Election-year politics threaten consensus among governors

WASHINGTON -- Governors beginning an annual meeting in the capital hope to find common ground on education, health care, roads and other policy issues caught up in the contentious politics of a presidential campaign.

Some state leaders on Saturday described that mission as near impossible.

On the most prominent challenges before them on the National Governors Association's annual four-day pilgrimage -- roads, President Bush's education law and Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor -- Democrats and Republicans came down on sharply differing sides on what is needed.

Republicans talked mostly about flexibility; Democrats said sweeping changes are needed in policy, backed with more federal money.

"It's a fine line," said Republican Mark Sanford of South Carolina. "Some of the governors who are Democratic peers of mine see a legitimately different perspective. Others are going to try to grandstand."

Keeping up the criticism

For Democrats, in the midst of a competitive primary race and encouraged as Bush's national poll numbers drop, it's no time to cut short the criticism. They hammered the president over lost jobs.

"The federal government and the Bush administration are saying to the states on Medicaid, on education and on homeland security -- you're on your own," said New Mexico Democrat Bill Richardson. The only consensus will be if GOP governors join with Democrats' criticism, he said.

Presidential election year or not, it's always difficult for governors, usually their party's state leaders and deeply involved in this year's campaign, to balance politics and policy.

They try to mark the boundaries with separate meetings of their political wings, the Democratic Governors' Association and the Republican Governors Association.

Schwarzenegger and gays

Democrats were so focused on the presidential race they didn't even mention the 11 governors races this fall. Republicans in turn defended Bush's record on foreign policy, education and the economy.

Republicans also spoke out against gay marriages and applauded Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's opposition to San Francisco officials' move to allow same-sex marriages. Governors were bracing for all the attention to the California governor's celebrity, but said it would help draw attention to their issues.

Last year, when state economies were in deep deficit because of the downturn in the economy, Republicans refused to back Democratic efforts to press for a federal bailout. Bush didn't like the idea, although ultimately $20 billion was added by Congress to help out the states.

This year, states are doing better but still face long-term structural problems, according to recent national surveys. None of the governors said they expected another bailout to be considered this year.

On education, Republican-controlled state legislative bodies in Utah, Virginia, New Hampshire have gone on record criticizing lack of funding for the education law. But the differences among governors probably will leave the argument over dollars out of discussions, Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia said.

The administration granted a concession this week on one of sticking point, easing the law's requirements for students learning English as a second language that could help schools avoid federal penalties.

It has toughened its position on Medicaid, however, pushing to crack down on the way states leverage federal funds for their state programs. The program provides health care to 50 million people and has ranked among the fastest growing elements in state budgets for several years.

Kathleen Sebelius, Democrat from Kansas, said she would rather her fellow governors speak honestly, regardless of politics.

"There will be a concerted effort by a number of Republican colleagues to not appear critical of the White House, given that we're going into an election cycle," she said. "In the candid conversations I had with governors behind closed doors, there was outstanding openness about how many of these programs really don't work for us. How much of that will be said to the press?"

The financing of highways and mass transit is before Congress now, with a dispute over the size of the spending and how many years the legislation would cover. Governors also are watching closely the reauthorization of the federal welfare law.

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On the Net:

National Governors Association: http://www.nga.org/

Republican Governors Association: http://www.rga.org/

Democratic Governors' Association: http://www.democraticgovernors.org/