a. Article VI, cl. 2 contains the Supremacy Clause
which says that if there is a conflict between a
valid federal law and a valid state or local law, the
state or local law is deemed to be preemptive and
is struck as invalid
b. If the federal law is
unconstitutional, then the 10th
Amendment kicks in and the
State law is valid
c. Preemption can be found in
the following situations:
i. Express Preemption: Federal statute
explicitly says that federal law is exclusive in
an area
ii. Implied Preemption: Even if the federal
statute is silent, there can still be implied
preemption
1. If the federal law and state law are
mutually exclusive (not possible to
simultaneously comply with both)
2. If a state local law
impermissibly interferes the
objective of a federal law
3. Congress evidences a clear intent
to preempt the state local laws through
its legislative history
d. States may not tax or regulate federal
government activity i. The power to tax is
the power to destroy, and if states could
impose a tax on the federal government,
they would be able to tax them out of
existence