Plenary Session Transcripts

Governors Attending:

Guests:

Discussion Subjects:

Organization and administration of public services and relief, including taxation; conciliation and arbitration; state sovereignty; land use; and interstate trade barriers; and national defense.

Points of Interest:

It was noted that until enactment of federal legislation that established federal-state cooperative programs--including unemployment compensation, old age assistance, aid to dependent children, and mothers' and children's health service--public relief had been largely a matter of local responsibility and few state budgets had provided for these purposes. Consequently, discussion focused on state-federal relations with respect to program administration.

Memorable Quotes:

Governor Herbert O'Conor of Maryland said with respect to public relief programs: "I should like to see the Federal departments withdraw gradually from the field of direct administration, and supply to the States...advisory and supervisory service, along with financial participation..."

Governor Charles Sprague of Oregon said: "All of us have heard the stories over and over again: the relief check which will not quite cover the rent and the provisions; dental service needed and no money to pay for it; old people caught with their life's savings wiped out and not yet eligible for old age assistance." Objecting to the federal government's so-called merit system of staff selection, he said: "How can you by formal examination measure one's understanding of human nature, or the fine balance between sympathy and moral courage which are required of caseworkers and administrators? We have acquiesced grudgingly in the mandate from Washington and only under threat of denial of grants to our aged, our dependent children and our blind. I should like to see this conference adopt a resolution of protest against this dictation from the Federal Government." He concluded his remarks with this comment: "The spirit of relief administration should be that of self-help, to stimulate others to help themselves wherever it is possible. Keeping multitudes on public doles inevitably results in their deterioration as self-reliant and self-respecting citizens."

With respect to federal grants-in-aid, Governor E. D. Rivers of Georgia quoted a student of the subject: "If the national policy is directed toward a relatively uniform level of service over the country, the percentage grant (i.e., 50/50 matching) must be rejected. It takes no account of differentials in tax raising ability between the states...it is necessary for the apportionment of federal contribution to be made after a consideration of the need for the service and the financial resources of the state."

Selected Resolutions/ Motions Adopted:
(1) Expressing the Governors' consensus that all necessary steps should be taken to provide adequately and effectively for the defense of the U.S and pledging each state's agricultural, industrial, and military resources to that end; (2) instructing the Conference's Secretary to have a legal and economic study made of federal legislation dealing with franchise taxes; and (3) instructing the Executive Committee to contact the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee with a view toward developing a coordinated tax program to avoid further duplication of taxes by the various tax authorities--federal, state, and local.