Guys, fire, police, education, roads and much much more are areas where the states, not the federal govt, has traditionally funded and regulated.
Here is the rub. The federal government liked to hold a carat and a stick. Example.
The legal drinking age used to be 18 or 19 in most states, not too long ago.
Eisenhower built the interstate.
So then the federal government was in the road business. They dabbled a little before, but the vast majority of influence came from local and state.
The federal government relied on the states to maintain the interstates. They gave them money.
Once the states got dependent on this money, the fed said that if you want to keep getting it, you states have to make yur drinking age 21.
Police, fire, education and roads all get federal funding and control to some extent, and some more than others.
education probably has the most government funding and control, it has been growing.
But, for a long time, states and localities provided and regulated the schools, police, roads, and fire departments.
But when the fed gives money, it comes with strings.