National Governors

WASHINGTON -- As the National Governors Association began its winter meeting, 13 governors expressed alarm yesterday that they were about to run out of federal money for a popular program that provides health insurance to children. They appealed to Congress and the Bush administration for swift action to protect hundreds of thousands of children who could lose benefits. The full association is poised to endorse that appeal. In a letter to Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress, the 13 governors said that "health insurance for some of our states' most vulnerable citizens is in jeopardy."

WASHINGTON -- The National Governors' Association has decided to oppose President Clinton's plan to set firm limits on federal Medicaid spending, contending that it would saddle states with more of the cost of providing health care to poor people, state officials said yesterday.Clinton says such limits are needed to impose fiscal discipline on the Medicaid program, which finances care for 37 million people.But in a confidential draft of their new policy, the governors say: "Any unilateral Federal cap on the Medicaid program will shift costs to state and local governments that they simply cannot afford.

WASHINGTON -- Have the nation's governors become a ''surrogate summit'' to reach middle-ground accords beyond the reach of Capitol Hill Republicans and the Clinton White House?So it seemed as the governors completed their winter meeting last week.In a demonstration of policy acumen and political compromise, they not only crafted solutions to the welfare and Medicaid dilemmas but did it by a unanimous, bipartisan vote.For a quarter-century, the governors have been sharpening their national policy-making skills, helping for example to hammer out the ground-breaking 1988 welfare-reform bill and 1989 national education goals.

WASHINGTON -- Leaders of the nation's governors said last night that they had agreed on a bipartisan proposal on Medicaid, one of the major stumbling blocks in the budget impasse between President Clinton and Republicans in Congress.The governors, at a conference of the National Governors' Association, said they had also made progress toward a compromise on welfare, another major issue in the budget debate.By themselves, the governors cannot alter Medicaid or welfare policy now set by the federal government.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton and Senate Republican leader Bob Dole will offer competing proposals tomorrow to overcome a political impasse that has stalled welfare legislation for two months.The two are scheduled to outline their proposals in speeches to the National Governors' Association, meeting in Burlington, Vt. Gov. Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin, a Republican who is the group's incoming chairman, said he would work to line up support for Mr. Dole's plan.Administration officials said yesterday that Mr. Clinton, in an effort to recapture the initiative on welfare, would announce steps to encourage states to move more of their welfare recipients into jobs.

Half the nation's governors are expected to run for re-election this year. For two Republicans, 1994 could be a trial run for a presidential bid in 1996.One is Gov. Pete Wilson of California. His four years as chief executive have been a disaster in California, literally. There have been earthquakes, devastating forest fires, a terrible riot; and the state's economy, especially in the populous south, is still not rising out of the recession apace with most of the rest of the nation.Governor Wilson said this week in Washington, where the National Governors' Association was meeting, that he should not be included on the presidential sweepstakes lists, because if re-elected he wants to focus on getting his state back on the road to better times.

Washington -- President Clinton spent so much time with the nation's governors last week that it seemed he wished he were one of them again.On Sunday evening, he invited all 50 to a gala White House dinner, the first of his administration. On Monday, he had them at his new residence again for a meeting of almost three hours discussing the budget deficit and potentials for national health reform. And on Tuesday morning, the president was with the governors once more, at their conference hotel, to talk to them about welfare reform, one of their favorite subjects.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Presidential candidate Bill Clinton, bolstered by strong endorsements from fellow Democratic governors, responded punch for punch yesterday to a new Republican ad that belittles his record as governor of Arkansas.The yet-to-be-aired ad reportedly declares that Mr. Clinton is "a failed governor from a small state."Mr. Clinton, flanked by 17 Democratic colleagues who assembled here for today's start of the 84th annual meeting of the National Governors' Association, replied: "I think I'm running against a failed president of a big country."

WASHINGTON -- For as long as there have been national governors' conferences, the chief topic of corridor conversation usually has been presidential politics. Those who weren't themselves running were always willing and eager to talk about those who were, or should have been.That, however, was before the United States went to war in the Persian Gulf and the governors, like Congress and the American people generally, fell in line behind the American troops in the field, if not always behind President Bush's policy of impatience with economic sanctions that put them there.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer, still under fire for calling the Eastern Shore an outhouse, has declared on a radio talk show that his mind is "as clear as it's ever been" and appeared refreshed as he joked with reporters at a wide-ranging news conference.The governor, who angered some Shore voters last Friday by labeling their area a "s---house," said yesterday the brouhaha is "one of the silliest things I have ever seen in my whole life.""It takes people's minds off of the war," Schaefer said.

Maryland appears likely to compete for a large pot of federal dollars that could require the winner, or a consortium of winning states, to adopt wide-ranging changes to what is taught in the classroom and measured by tests. The economic stimulus package includes $5 billion for states that want to raise academic standards, create databases and adopt new assessments. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent teleconference with news media that he wants to "invest in a small number of states that are willing to challenge the status quo."

WASHINGTON -- As the National Governors Association began its winter meeting, 13 governors expressed alarm yesterday that they were about to run out of federal money for a popular program that provides health insurance to children. They appealed to Congress and the Bush administration for swift action to protect hundreds of thousands of children who could lose benefits. The full association is poised to endorse that appeal. In a letter to Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress, the 13 governors said that "health insurance for some of our states' most vulnerable citizens is in jeopardy."

WASHINGTON -- When he was mayor of Baltimore, Martin O'Malley was a star among the leaders of America's big cities, winning praise and recognition from his peers coast to coast. But when he walked into a National Governors Association meeting for the first time yesterday, he found himself a rookie in a much more exclusive league. The governor will spend much of the next three days at the NGA's annual winter meeting in Washington attending seminars on education policy, the environment and economic development - all the while rubbing elbows with some of the nation's most prominent leaders, including at least one candidate for president.

Utah Gov. Michael O. Leavitt was sick of environmental battles and how they always pitted extremists against each other in decisions on air, land and water. So more than five years ago, the Republican tried a new approach to environmental policy. Called "Enlibra" - a quasi-Latin phrase meaning "to move toward balance" - the philosophy seeks to reach compromise through collaboration and cooperation between sides that are usually at war. "There is no progress polarizing at the extreme, but there is great progress, there's great environmental progress, when we collaborate in the productive middle," Leavitt said this week as he was named head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Saying he hopes to leave office with a clean slate - and a clear conscience - Gov. Parris N. Glendening has developed a plan to leave Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. with a "hefty reserve" by eliminating the deficit in this year's budget. Meeting at the National Governors' Association conference here, Glendening told Ehrlich of his plans last night during an hour-long meeting. The two cast aside their stark political differences and discussed the state's fiscal situation and the governor's hopes that the new Republican administration does not cut some of his beloved programs.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening will open his final conference as chairman of the National Governors' Association today, capping a year's labor that may be better appreciated outside Maryland than within the borders of the Old Line State. Glendening has used his bully pulpit as a ranking governor to promote policies that fit under the banner of Smart Growth. He has spread his message of fewer highways, denser construction, farmland preservation and revitalization of older communities from state to state, and watched it take root.

WASHINGTON - The National Governors Association reported recently that the annual cost to society of traffic gridlock is $72 billion in wasted time and fuel as well as 4.3 billion hours stuck in traffic. And gridlock is getting worse. Politicians know that traffic gridlock is unpopular and that the public expects them to alleviate it. They also know that people only want traffic efficiency - like garbage dumps, power plants, and cell-phone towers - in someone else's back yard. The National Governors Association report, subtitled "Delivering More Transportation Choices to Break Gridlock," reflects this political calculus.

WASHINGTON - After two days of listening to public criticism of President Bush's fiscal strategy, some Republican governors left the National Governors Association conference yesterday complaining that its tone had been uncomfortably partisan, thanks in large part to Maryland's Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the association chairman. After voting unanimously on policy resolutions concerning Medicaid and education reform yesterday, governors heard a closing speech by Senate Democratic Leader Thomas A. Daschle, whom Glendening inadvertently referred to as "the majority leader."

WASHINGTON -- The National Governors' Association is proposing radical changes in Medicaid that would allow states to provide health insurance to millions of additional people, but the benefits would be less generous than those now guaranteed to poor people. Gov. Parris N. Glendening, a Democrat who is chairman of the association, said yesterday that the new approach was needed because "health care costs are rising at the same time tax revenues are declining in many states," and yet many governors want to help provide coverage to people who are uninsured.

PARRIS GLENDENING missed another meeting of the Board of Public Works last week. His busy out-of-state itinerary once again took precedence over attending a voting session of this important state panel. Indeed, Mr. Glendening could be regarded as Maryland's "Travelin' Man." He's been on the road beyond Maryland for at least 38 days since Sept. 1. Kiawah Island, S.C.; Little Rock, Ark.; St. Louis; St. Paul, Minn.; Park City, Utah; Bremerton, Wash.; Iowa; Missouri; Ireland; South Africa; Ghana -- this guy's been chalking up gobs of frequent-flier miles.