National Governors Association

Meeting Summary

1982 NGA Winter Meeting

Washington, District of Columbia (February 21-23)

Governors Attending:

(Neither an attendance list nor plenary session transcripts were available; information was secured from other archived documents.)

Guests:

Committee and Other Guests (abbreviated committee name or other session in parentheses):

Hon. Terrel H. Bell
Secretary, U.S. Department of Education (HR)
Hon. John R. Block, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture (AG)
Hon. Helen Boosalis
President, U.S. Conference of Mayors (SLR)
Allen Breed
Director, National Institute of Corrections (prisons)
Norman A. Carlson
Director, U.S. Bureau of Prisons (prisons)
John E. Chapoton
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy (CED)
Hon. Richard Conder
President, National Association of Counties (SLR)
Hon. Doyle Conner
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture (AG)
Robert Diegelman, Acting Director, Office of Justice Assistance Research and Statistics (CJ)
Hon. Raymond Donovan
Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor (HR)
Hon. Pete V. Domenici
U.S. Senator from New Mexico and Chairman,
Senate Budget Committee (EM)
H. Eugene Douglas
U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs (immigration and refugee issues)
Marvin R. Duncan
Assistance VP and Economic, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (AG)
Louis O. Giuffrida
Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency (CJ)
Hon. Anne M. Gorsuch
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EE)
Hon. Alexander M. Haig
Secretary, U.S. Department of State (ITFR)
Hon. Ferd Harrison
President, National League of Cities (SLR)
D. Lowell Jensen
Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice (CJ)

Perry Johnson
Director, Michigan Department of Corrections (prisons)
Hon. James R. Jones
U.S. Representative from Oklahoma and Chairman, House Budget Committee (EM)
Dr. George A. Keyworth
Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (technological innovation)
Hon. Drew Lewis
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation (TCT)
Bruce K. MacLaury
President, Brookings Institution (HR)
R.T. McNamar
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (CED)
Hon. Samuel R. Pierce, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (CED)
Dr. Frank Press
President, National Academy of Sciences (technological innovation)
Benjamin Renshaw III
Acting Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics (CJ)
Hon. William Bradford Reynolds
Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice (prisons)
Hon. Richard S. Schweiker
Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HR)
Hon. Alan K. Simpson
Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Policy (immigration and refugee issues)
David Stockman
Director, Office of Management and Budget (federalism proposals)
James Underwood
Acting Director, National Institute of Justice (CJ)
Hon. George V. Voinovich
Mayor of Cleveland (SLR)
Richard S. Williamson
Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs (federal proposals)

Plenary Session Guests:

Hon. Howard Baker
U.S. Senator from Tennessee and Senate Majority Leader (federalism and budget)

Hon. Tip O'Neill
U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and House Speaker (federalism and budget)

Discussion Subjects:

Agriculture (AG) – the role of the states in the farm economy; and reports of the Subcommittee on Range Resource Management, the Task Force on Soil Conservation, and the Task Force on Agricultural Exports
Community and Economic Development (CED) – enterprise zones, housing policy, and community development block grants; and tax-exempt financing, financial institutions restructuring, and tax turnbacks
Criminal Justice and Public Protection (CJ) – state and federal action to reduce violent crime in America; state and federal resources for the fight against crime; new initiatives in emergency management; and state fire and building safety codes
Energy and Environment (EE) – the Administration's environmental policies; and energy policy and appropriations issues
Executive Management and Fiscal Affairs (EM) – Congressional action on the FY83 federal budget
Human Resources (HR) – the impact of federal budget and federalism proposals on state governments and human service programs
International Trade and Foreign Relations (ITFR) – reports of the Task Forces on: Congressional Initiatives; Tourism; State-Federal Cooperation on Trade Development; Export Finance; Immigration and Refugee Issues; and North American Cooperation
State and Local Relations (SLR) – state-local dimensions of the New Federalism
Transportation, Commerce and Technology (TCT) – sorting out initiatives and revenue turnbacks for transportation programs; and Administration proposals for surface transportation programs
Other Governors' Sessions – work session on technological innovation: new challenges to the states; work session on problems in American prisons; special session on the President's federalism proposals; special work session on the Governors' federalism policy; and meeting of the Task Force on Immigration and Refugee Issues

Points of Interest:

A compromise federalism policy statement was approved unanimously by the Governors who were present at the closing plenary session. Central to the statement were the Governors' agreement with President Reagan's proposals for full federal assumption of Medicaid and for transfer of a range of categorical programs to state responsibility, and their disagreement with the Administration's suggestion that responsibility for food stamps and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) be assigned to the states. Among the Governors' recommendations were that the AFDC-food stamp portion of the proposal be deferred for further negotiations, and that the states take over a negotiated set of federal categorical (including transportation) programs.

It was noted that the cost to the states of the returned categorical programs would be higher than the federal government's estimated cost to assume responsibility for Medicaid. Consequently, they recommended that a trust fund be created to make up the difference.

During the closing session, Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and House Speaker Tip O'Neill delivered congressional perspectives on New Federalism and budget issues. Baker strongly endorsed President Reagan's federalism program, while O'Neill attacked it.

Memorable Quotes:

Governor Richard Lamm of Colorado said: "…it's important that you understand that governors—Democratic governors, Democratic mayors and Democratic county commissioners—in fact, are also tired of playing ‘mother may I' with some federal bureaucrat to run our own jurisdiction…I really believe as a Democrat that there is a strong case that the federal government over-reached itself, is in fact bloated…I believe that you've got to recognize that there's an awful lot of us out there that equally believe—Republican and Democrat—that the New Federalism has something to it…"

Selected Policy Positions Adopted:
(1) reaffirming the federal government's primary role in financing income security and medical care programs; (2) urging a national policy commitment to funding employment and training programs for at-risk populations; (3) calling for a joint federal-state-private sector push for higher levels of achievement in schools, with special attention to math and science, as a means to spur productivity and technological innovation; (4) calling for the use of revenues from energy windfall profits taxes to finance programs to aid low-income individuals in meeting energy costs; (5) supporting targeting of federal soil conservation cost-share dollars, local priorities, and long-term contractual arrangements between producers and the federal government; (6) calling for the expansion of exports of processed agricultural products or value-added exports as a means of stimulating job creation; and (7) emphasizing that immigration and refugee issues (including funding of refugees' needs for their first three years in the United States) were the responsibility of the federal government.