Plenary Session Transcripts

Governors Attending:

Guests:

Discussion Subjects:

Role and purpose of states in the nation’s third century; national welfare reform; and a visit with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England

Points of Interest:

During this U.S. Bicentennial year, public opinion analyst Lou Harris told Governors that 65 percent of the American people felt state government was closer to them than the federal government, and 39 percent felt that state government could be better trusted. At the same time, 41 percent believed that the federal government could attract better qualified officials. Neil Peirce of National Journal raised the critical question of whether states would make effective use of what he called "the immense residual sovereignty that is theirs under the federal Constitution and their own basic charters to address and solve the great problems of the society..." He argued that if they did not, they would cede to federal authority, "however ill-conceived or ill-administered, the effective scope of action in the decades to come." Among the powers he recommended using more effectively were taxation, fiscal oversight of local governments, and land use planning for the benefit of environmental preservation.

Jim Hartz, co-host of NBC's Today show, presented each Governor with a videotape of the bicentennial broadcast that had originated from his/her state. Hartz said: "This year I traveled nearly 200,000 miles and visited nearly all the States, and I came away from the experience with a new hope for the nation. We found serious problems, but everywhere I went I also found a spirit of optimism and vigor. And often I found the strongest leadership, the best ideas and deepest concern among the nation's Governors. You all have a right to be proud of your achievements, and you have good reason to be hopeful for the future."

Governors were presented with a report titled "National Welfare Reform: A Bicentennial Priority" that had just been completed by an association task force. During a lengthy discussion of the issue, Governors talked, among other things, about the feasibility and advisability of adding work requirements and establishing a minimum national payment standard.

Memorable Quotes:

In arguing that confidence was shifting away from the federal government and toward states, Louis Harris said: "...I find it no happenstance that every presidential candidate of both major parties from 1960 through 1972 had a background in the U.S. Senate...Now, in 1976, I find it no happenstance whatsoever that nearly all the Senators did very poorly in this year's presidential primaries, while three of four who did best in both parties were former Governor Carter, Governor Brown and former Governor Reagan...You can take advantage of the low faith that exists in the federal government, and you can weaken government at all levels. You can take back power and responsibility and not use it, let it lie fallow. Or you can seize on the basic principle of pluralism. I'd say that principle probably runs deepest among the people on our 200^th anniversary."

Neil Peirce of National Journal said this about land use planning: "Constitutionally, the States have practically unlimited power to control the use of land to preserve a decent physical environment for this and future generations. Whether they do so directly or simply delegate that responsibility to local governments under state supervision isn't the key issue. The issue is, will the States see that the job is done at all? If not, the federal government will step in clumsily, using carrots and sticks..."

Governor Hugh Carey of New York said this about the welfare system: "I believe that if we had a national road program that was costing us more than $19 billion a year at the federal level, and the roads were full of potholes and you couldn't take the turns without running the risk of losing life and limb, we'd have probably a nationwide strike by the truckers, and we'd have motorists en masse clamoring for relief from the dangers. But that isn't happening in the welfare system, because although we do have a broken down, $19 billion system, until this time we haven't joined together to cope with it."

Selected Policy Positions Adopted
(1) Endorsing welfare reform to include the establishment of a national minimum payment level with provision for regional differences, the elimination of work disincentives, 100-percent federal funding for the mandated minimum level, and 75-percent federal funding for the costs of state supplementals; (2) supporting the deregulation of new gas wellhead prices and the use of excess profits resulting from deregulation to explore for and develop new natural gas supplies, and urging Congress to enact an excess profits tax containing a plow-back provision to provide relief from such tax if the excess earnings were being used to explore and develop new natural gas supplies; (3) urging a reorientation of existing federal disaster assistance programs toward meeting the special disaster preparedness and assistance needs of less populous communities and states; (4) urging the Secretary of Transportation to pursue a national rail plan in cooperation with the states; (5) supporting ratification and implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution; (6) recommending consolidation of all agencies related to tourism; and (7) supporting an increase in the federal estate tax exemption.