In the early 80s, the Federal govt told the states to raise their drinking age to 21 or...

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11. More examples, background:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/four-times-the-government-held-highway-funding-hostage/454167/
(note that article is from 2014)

Four Times the Government Held Highway Funding Hostage

If Congress were to lose the Highway Trust Fund, it would also lose a powerful tool to keep states in line.

BRIAN RESNICK
EMMA ROLLER
NATIONAL JOURNAL
JULY 16, 2014

The federal government can't force states to comply with all of its whims. But it certainly has the means to put the pressure on.

Congress is debating how to extend funding for the Highway Trust Fund, the money that has in the past acted as the federal government's muscle in enforcing laws at the state level. The House voted to patch the fund on Tuesday, two weeks before the trust ran out of money to maintain the nation's roads.


[...]

In the past, the government has used federal highway funding as a way to leverage states to comply with driving-related laws — establishing a speed limit in Montana, for example — as well as more tangentially related laws. Under the 10th Amendment, powers not explicitly given to the federal government are reserved for the states. But under its authority to regulate interstate commerce, Congress can threaten to withhold essential federal funding for highway infrastructure if states do not comply.

The precedent for the federal government holding its highway funding hostage goes back to a 1987 Supreme Court case. The case, South Dakota v. Dole, dealt with the national drinking age, and found one of the Constitution's articles butting up against one of its amendments. The Court found that, under the spending clause of the Constitution, the federal government could withhold highway funds, thereby exerting its control over the states.

[...]