Plenary Session Transcripts

Governors Attending:

Guests:

Discussion Subjects:

• Economic Development and Commerce (EDC) - government actions to reduce the costs of regulation on business; telecommunications: comments on state and federal legislative initiatives; and international trade and development: opportunities for state/federal partnerships
• Human Resources (HR) - federal block grants and budget proposals: new challenges for states; and preparing for new responsibilities: examples of state initiatives
• Natural Resources (NR) - new directions for environmental management
• Other Governors' Sessions - School-to-Work roundtable
• 1994-95 Chair Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's Initiative - Governors' Campaign for Children
• Plenary Session Discussion Subjects - Addresses by President Bill Clinton and U.S. Senate leaders; education; children; welfare reform; and the federal budget

Points of Interest:

Governor Dean reported that in pursuing his Chairman's Initiative on children, he learned three important lessons.

• While families had primary child-raising responsibility, there were times when they needed assistance.
• Communities were in the best position to provide needed support, and Governors should be prepared to assist them in the process of applying new techniques in their efforts.
• Investing in young children paid off in savings later on.

Governors heard from experts on children, many of whom referred to the importance of early intervention.

President Bill Clinton told Governors that ideological disputes had delayed welfare reform. He expressed concern that some states would engage in a race for the bottom if given federal money with no incentives or requirements to maintain their own level of funding for benefits, child care, and work. But he emphasized that such an outcome would not result from any lack of state ability or commitment, but rather because of congressional threats to cut Medicaid and other social programs and the potential at the state level for legislatures to fund pet projects of powerful lobbyists at the expense of welfare recipients. Consequently, the President supported rewarding states for moving people from welfare to work.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole told Governors with respect to welfare reform that the Senate Labor Committee supported consolidating job training and related educational programs in a single block grant. He also expressed a commitment to work requirements and argued that states should be able to design their own work programs.

Governor Frank Keating of Oklahoma expressed gratitude for the help and support of other states in the aftermath of the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that had killed 168 people. [The bombing, which took place on April 19, 1995, was found to be an act of domestic terrorism, for which Timothy McVeigh was convicted under federal law and executed on June 11, 2001.]

Memorable Quotes:

Lou Gerstner of IBM said: "...we are the only major country in the world without an articulated set of education standards and without a means of measuring how successful we are in reaching them...Without standards, education reform is shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic...In virtually everything else we do in the United States we set high standards and strive to be number one. Why not in education?...Why isn't winning in the classroom important in America? We put a man in space because we set a goal that was beyond, not within our grasp. We need the same approach for education...It boils down to the fact that we just can't settle anymore for mediocrity. We must commit to the highest levels of student achievement, and we must do it now."

U.S. Senator Bob Dole said: "Newt Gingrich carries around the Contract with America [a document prepared by Republicans during the 1994 congressional elections, spelling out the agenda they would pursue once having achieved a majority in Congress]; I carry around the 10^th Amendment. It's only 28 words in length, something I can handle, and it's not very complicated...If it's not reserved to the federal government, the power should go to the states and to the people. Whether you're Democratic Governors, Republican Governors...there's no distinction. In my view you're a lot closer to the people, and we believe you can make better decisions or certainly decisions as good as we can make as far removed as we are. And I don't say that in criticism of Congress, but it just seems to me that we've lost track for the past 30 to 40 years. We have had the power coming to Washington, and now we believe it's time to shift it back where we think it should be."

President Bill Clinton said: "...I'm opposed to welfare reform that is really just a mask for congressional budget cutting which would send you a check with no incentives or requirements on states to maintain your own funding support for poor children, and child care and work. And I do believe honestly that there is a danger that some states will get involved in the race to the bottom, but not as some have implied because I don't have confidence in you...but because I have been a Governor...and I know what kind of decisions you are about to face if the range of alternatives I see coming toward you develops. I know with the big cuts now being talked about in Congress in Medicaid, in other health and human services areas, in education and the environment, that you will have a lot of pressure...What happens the next time a recession comes down? How will you deal with interplay in your own legislature? If you just get a block grant for welfare with no requirement to do anything on your own and the people representing the good folks in nursing homes show up, and the people representing the teachers show up, and the people representing the colleges and universities show up, and the people representing the cities and counties...show up...the poor children's lobby is a poor match for most of those forces in most state legislatures..."

Selected Policy Positions Adopted:
(1) Calling on the federal government to allow states to retain a portion of any savings achieved from efficiencies in federal programs; (2) emphasizing the important role of tourism in state economies and the need to develop and strengthen public-private partnerships to promote travel to the United States; (3) requesting state representation on federal boards that set policy affecting state banks; (4) expressing support for the purposes and spirit of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and recommending maximum federal funding and maximum state and local administrative flexibility; (5) encouraging Congress and the Administration to review governing statutes and operation of the Food and Drug Administration to ensure speedy movement of products to market while at the same time preserving the safety of all Americans; and (6) recommending specific ways for all levels of government to help reduce the number of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and encourage the active participation of fathers in raising their children.

Presidential Addresses: