Plenary Session Transcripts

Governors Attending:

Guests:

Discussion Subjects:

The states and the mentally ill; financing our schools; address by Vice President Johnson titled "Testing Our Will"

Points of Interest:

Federal funding for education was a focus of this annual meeting. HEW Secretary Arthur Flemming argued in support of federal assistance to help train new higher education professionals in anticipation of increased college enrollment. He also supported federal matching of state funding for construction of elementary and secondary education classrooms, which he said would in no way interfere with states' rights in the arenas of curricula or salaries. At the same time, however, James Quigley of HEW spoke of President Kennedy's proposal in Congress to provide a three-year program of grants that states could choose to use either for classroom construction or teachers' salaries, thus meeting the spirit of states' rights.

Speaking in opposition to federal assistance, Dr. Raymond Moley of Newsweek magazine suggested that federal aid was a political ploy that would: (1) result in too much federal control; (2) unfairly favor public schools over private schools that were just as much in need of construction; and (3) release states from their own taxing obligations while burdening federal taxpayers.

On the other hand, many Governors noted that federal tax dollars spent on education were in fact coming from the same taxpayers who paid state and local taxes. Concern was also expressed that federal matching funds wouldn't help the most needy and that a formula had to be established to ensure funding equalization for states that lacked sufficient financial resources.

The association's Federal-State Relations Committee proposed that the federal government share with each state 5 percent of that state's individual income tax receipts. During the first year of funding, states would be required to use 40 percent of their federal aid for education, with percentages rising each year.

Dr. Jack Ewalt from the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health spoke of the need for greater research on the issue of mental illness and better treatment for the mentally ill. Among the Commission's recommendations were to: (1) improve research to develop new knowledge; (2) engage in better use of current knowledge by adopting a liberal philosophy with respect to what constituted mental illness, recruiting and training mental health professionals, detecting and treating early signs of illness, ensuring emergency psychiatric care for acutely disturbed patients, ensuring after-care and rehabilitation for those released from health care facilities, and educating the public about mental illness; and (3) achieve joint state-federal sharing in the cost of service to the mentally ill, and secure state establishment of mental health agencies. [Note: Governors had discussed mental illness in 1954 and had held a conference on the subject that same year.]

Memorable Quotes:

Governor George Clyde of Utah said: "It is heartening to find that the concept of mental illness is being revised throughout the nation. Mentally ill people are today much less likely to be regarded as loathsome outcasts, in somewhat the same way lepers were regarded by medieval society, than they were only a few years ago—although unfortunately the old prejudice has not been entirely removed yet. The professional attitude toward mental disorder has completely changed over the past century. "Insanity" is no longer regarded as incurable, and the modern emphasis is on rehabilitation."

Governor Price Daniel of Texas said: "There are those in the national government who stand ready...to share more of our educational responsibilities with federal finances. They do not seem to realize that federal dollars come from the pockets of the same taxpayers as state and local tax dollars. Neither do they seem to realize that dependence on federal funds for operation of local schools will serve to lessen rather than strengthen local interest, improvements, efficiencies, and economies."

Vice President Lyndon Johnson said: "Against the background of recent events, we make a grievous blunder if we refuse to see that Russia is engaged in a deliberate and powerful campaign to test our strength of will, our unity of purpose, our wisdom in council, and if necessary our valor in battle. In this struggle with Communist power the voluntary strength of free societies must prove greater than the coerced unity imposed by despotism. Otherwise, we shall fail, and freedom will fall."

Selected Resolutions Adopted:
(1) Supporting a federal program of grants-in-aid to the states and territories to assist in the construction of adequate classroom facilities, loans for the construction and improvement of facilities for higher education, and funds to states and territories to expand adult education programs conducted through colleges and universities, and urging Congress to enact legislation to implement these goals; (2)supporting the USS Arizona Memorial; (3) resolving that the states undertake a teacher exchange with other nations in the Americas; (4) directing the association's Executive Committee to cooperate with the American Assembly in the development and execution of a program for a conference on automation; (5) supporting the new designation of Veterans Day; (6)urging enactment of legislation to remove the Comptroller of the Currency from the Board of FDIC and substitute a three-man board on which state banking systems were represented, as well as legislation to assign FDIC sole responsibility for approval of branch applications for state and national banks in states permitting branch banks; (7) urging states to consider enactment of the Driver License Compact, and endorsing the development of an interstate compact that might serve as a means of developing and securing acceptance by states of uniform automobile safety standards; (8)directing the Governors' Conference Committee on Juvenile Delinquency to develop recommendations to be considered by states for the control and prevention of delinquency as well as to arrange a conference of state representatives and experts on juvenile delinquency; (9) supporting the President's declaration that a long-range program be initiated to identify present fallout shelter capacity and provide shelter in new and existing structures; (10) urging maintenance of the current strength of the National Guard; (11) directing the Governors' Conference Chairman to communicate to the President the seriousness with which the Conference viewed exemption from federal income taxation of interest on state and municipal bonds; (12) urging the President and Congress to consider amending the Public Health Service Act of 1944 to enable states to transfer up to one-third of their federal grants under the act from one eligible category to another; (13) instructing the Council of State Governments (CSG) to plan a two-day Governors' Conference on Mental Health to evaluate progress since the organization's conference of 1954 and discuss steps necessary to implement recommendations of the Joint Commission on Mental Health;(14) urging the President to appoint someone to represent states' interests on the Federal Radiation Council; (15) resolving that the Governors' Conference create a Committee on Comprehensive State Planning to seek greater joint federal-state planning and coordination with respect to the development of plans and programs in areas such as public land use, transportation, water resources, open space for recreation, and metropolitan expansion; (16) supporting the Seattle World's Fair of 1962 and the New York World's Fair of 1964-65; (17) expressing disapproval of the tendency of federal agencies to dictate the organizational form and structure through which the states carried out federally supported programs and directing CSG to investigate federal statutory and administrative requirements dealing with state organization under various federal grant-in-aid programs; (18) directing the Chairman to appoint a committee of Governors to prepare a report on urban and regional development; (19) urging the President and Congress to consider revising the federal credit for inheritance and estate taxes paid to states; and (20) expressing approval of a program for exchange visits between the Governors of the United States and Japan.