Governors meet, talk of budget assistance

WASHINGTON -- Democrats said Saturday that the White House was taking unprecedented steps to limit conversation at Monday's scheduled policy discussion between governors and President Bush.

With their states' economies in tatters, members of the National Governors Association -- who began their four-day winter meeting Saturday -- are hoping to win more federal aid to cover soaring costs for health care, homeland security and education.

But the governors have been told that most of them won't be able to directly question the president during Monday's White House gathering, according to Nicole Harburger, communications director for the Democratic Governors Association.

"Several of the governors are considering not attending the meeting," Harburger said. "The governors are upset and concerned that the White House is not interested in a dialogue."

She said the governors have been told they will be restricted to two questions overall, submitted in writing beforehand.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke, chairman of the Democratic governors, said, "There are many Democratic governors talking about not even attending under these circumstances."

"It's always been a very candid exchange," Locke said. "It's more important now than ever before to have a frank, open discussion."

Opportunity to ask

Republican Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, vice chairman of the national association, said there still would be an opportunity to ask questions of Bush, and that the changes were a constructive attempt to focus closely on top concerns.

Bush also closed to the press today's formal dinner with the governors; in years past, it had been open. Locke said the White House has even set limits on Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton's toast at the dinner.

State governments' dire finances and disagreements on what would help threatened to strain the traditionally bipartisan tone of the NGA.

"We have serious issues," said Patton, the group's Democratic chairman. "It may be more difficult to get consensus than it has in the past."

"We'll thrash it out," said Kempthorne.

Governors met Saturday with Education Secretary Rod Paige, and planned to see Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and leading lawmakers later during the four-day weekend.

Democrats sharply criticized Bush's budget proposals, and even fellow Republicans questioned the details.

There also was some dismay that the governors' association, seeking a unified position on behalf of the states, was too harsh in assessing Bush's spending plan.

Bush's successor as Texas governor, Republican Rick Perry, quit the organization, partly to save $160,000 in annual fees and partly because he was unhappy with what he felt was its criticism of the Bush administration, spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.

"Open criticism of the president is not an approach Gov. Perry favors," she said.

GOP Govs. John Rowland of Connecticut, Jeb Bush of Florida and Bill Owens of Colorado have all been pushing to counter what they see as partisan attacks from the group, Rowland said.

Among the issues on the governors' agenda:

--Bush's Medicaid overhaul, which would give more flexibility and increased federal funding in the short term to states that choose to participate.

--Reauthorization of the federal transportation act, which distributes federal funds for state and local transportation needs.

--Money to help states meet new obligations for homeland security.

Underlying the policy discussions is the financial crisis facing the states. New figures released Saturday predict a combined $30 billion shortfall for the current budget year.

Next year looks worse, with shortfalls estimated at $82 billion. Because all states except for Vermont are barred from running a deficit, governors and legislators must agree to cut spending or raise taxes. Three years of cuts are taking their toll.

"I didn't mind making cuts when the cuts inconvenienced people," said Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, one of several GOP governors who have stepped away from their party's usual anti-tax stance and proposed raising taxes.

"Telling an elderly woman that she's going to have to cut her blood pressure medication in half -- that hurts her. I'm not willing to hurt her."

Huckabee said he particularly wants to hear more details about changes proposed for Medicaid, the fastest growing portion of most state budgets. "We don't have room to make mistakes in our budgets," he said.

Democratic governors, who won several seats in the past election but still are outnumbered 26-24 by Republicans, have stepped forward to focus their national party's stance on domestic issues.

"We hear from the White House about partnership. But when you get past the rhetoric of partnership, we see no money" -- on homeland security, rising Medicaid costs or other pressing needs, said Democrat Bob Holden of Missouri.

After the Republican governors gathered to discuss politics and policy Saturday, Owens -- the group's chairman -- announced that they were pleased with Bush's budget proposals, from Medicaid to tax cuts.

Several Democrats said they were concerned that Washington's focus overseas was shortchanging domestic needs. Tennessee's Phil Bredesen recounted meeting with the president with other governors just before Christmas.

"It was great and I was honored to be there, but we spent the entire 45 minutes talking about Iraq," he said. "Myself, and many other governors, Republicans and Democrats, would like to have had some discussion about education, about how we're going to get the economy back on track."

------

On the Net:

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