Plenary Session Transcripts

Governors Attending:

Guests:

Discussion Subjects:

Elementary and secondary education; higher education; address by Genl. Alfred M. Gruenther; highways and highway safety; and civilian use of atomic energy

Points of Interest:

Governors talked about the White House Conference on Education that had recently been held. They discussed the problem of rising enrollment, as well as teacher and facilities shortages, and how they could best be addressed. They also discussed the wisdom of accepting federal grants-in-aid for education and using television as a means of accomplishing educational goals with fewer teachers. And they talked about the value of community colleges, particularly with respect to making education less expensive.

Genl. Gruenther, Commanding General of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers of Europe, spoke of the need to maintain alliances among European nations and between Europe and the U.S. to ensure a block against Soviet influence.

It was reported that the House and Senate had just agreed in conference to legislation providing federal funding for the interstate highway system. The bill authorized $24.8 billion to complete the interstate system within 13 years, amounting to 90 percent of the total cost. Funds for the first three years would be allotted to states based on a standard federal aid formula taking into consideration population, land area, and post road mileage. Subsequent state shares would be based on needs determined by surveys and studies. A total of $14.8 billion would be levied to finance the federal share, including a tax increase of one cent per gallon on gasoline, along with new taxes on fuels other than gasoline as well as on tires, trucks, buses, and trailers. A special tax would also be imposed on vehicles carrying loads in excess of a specified weight. A highway trust fund would be established to hold the federal moneys.

Governors discussed highway safety at length, including speed limits and automobile horsepower.

With respect to civilian use of atomic energy, Governors talked about the safety issues involved in having nuclear reactors in their states and about concern that the U.S. needed to get ahead of the Soviets in developing atomic power for peaceful use or risk the Soviets offering that power to nations hungry for it. Some Governors--particularly from states where fossil fuels were extracted--urged that there be no rush to use atomic energy.

Memorable Quotes:

Governor Arthur Langlie of Washington said: "In 1954 [states] were helped through federal grants-in-aid to the extent of 14 percent; in other words, six out of every seven dollars the states spent came from their own sources. Not counting federal funds, state expenditures multiplied 86 times between 1902 and 1954...while the population doubled and prices tripled."

With respect to the suggestion that the offer of scholarships would help induce more people to enter the field of teaching, Governor J. Bracken Lee of Utah said: "How can we improve our system by which the most able people get a college education, and how do we encourage those best equipped to get a higher education to prepare for it? Generally speaking, the answer usually supplied to both of these questions is that we must grant more scholarships, so we might keep pace with Russia in producing scientists and engineers. I believe a good rebuttal to that is: how long can we combat statism if we adopt socialistic methods to fight it? By education, itself, we should show the young people the long-range benefits that education can provide. These benefits should be obvious...and should be sold to the young person, not forced upon him."

Gov. Bracken also said with respect to his opposition to economic foreign aid: "...I have raised the question of the constitutionality of the government's foreign aid program. In order to settle this question in the courts, I withheld the payment of my federal income tax this year, hoping that the Internal Revenue Service would institute a court action against me. Instead of finding myself in court, however, I found myself with my pockets turned inside out. I found that the government, through its vast summary powers, was able to collect the unpaid portion of my tax simply by forcing the collection of a lien against my bank account..."

Governor Walter Kohler of Wisconsin said: "Cars today are quite generally available with safety belts, which was not true a year ago, and was unthinkable two years ago, because the manufacturers thought that putting in safety belts would tend to emphasize the danger of the cars, so that they couldn't sell them. The fact of the matter is that the belt is now accepted by the manufacturers, and I think anybody can buy safety belts in any car today...As far as the horsepower is concerned, it is my belief that while horsepower contributes to fatalities through the increased speed, nevertheless, it is also a safety factor in that it gives you increased acceleration when you are passing a big semi-trailer or an enormous truck."

Dr. Harold Price of the Atomic Energy Commission said: "In helping to meet the electric power requirements of the future, the splitting atom will be just another source of heat--a source that will become economically competitive with fossil fuels, in the next decade we hope...considering the fact that Dr. Fermi, Dr. Zinn and their associates achieved the first nuclear chain reaction only about fifteen years ago, and considering the potential benefits in science, in medicine, in agriculture and in industry that are already beginning to unfold, future generations will almost surely look upon this decade as what Governor Kohler [of Wisconsin] has recently called "the threshold of a revolution in living." As the full impact of this revolution in living begins to be felt in the years to come, the state governments, the local governments, and the federal government must be ready to cope with it."

Selected Resolutions Adopted:
(1) Resolving to undertake a study to make recommendations for the adoption of a uniform set of motor vehicle laws, uniform enforcement of those laws, nationwide reciprocity in upholding convictions and penalties resulting from enforcement of the motor vehicle laws, and the development of state and community-wide programs for safety education; (2) recommending to Congress that federal laws be framed so as not to be construed as preempting any field against state action unless such preemption was explicit and that the exercise of national power on any subject should not bar state action on the same subject unless there was positive inconsistency; and (3) recommending that states consider assuming increased responsibility for curbing local narcotics traffic and addiction and support rehabilitative programs, and suggesting that the federal government strengthen and increase its activity to prevent smuggling, wholesaling, and interstate trafficking in narcotic drugs.