Quiet session expected from governors

Friday, July 25, 1997 | 9:59 a.m.

There probably aren't going to be a lot of fireworks at the upcoming National Governors' Association meeting in Las Vegas, except perhaps behind closed doors.

The four-day conference that begins Sunday at The Mirage hotel-casino will focus on early childhood development under the direction of Gov. Bob Miller, the association's outgoing chairman. More than 40 governors are expected.

The conference will present a heavily publicized side, highlighted by speeches from President Clinton, billionaire computer whiz Bill Gates and movie director Rob Reiner. There also will be a secretive side, featuring closed-door bull sessions and partisan caucuses.

Raymond Scheppach, the association's executive director, said this conference will focus on states that have successful programs for young children. Examples include prenatal care and programs where counselors visit low-income families to improve their parenting skills. The 1997 Nevada Legislature approved a scaled-down early childhood program from that envisioned by Miller.

"It feeds off a lot of the brain research being done now that says there's a phenomenal amount of learning in the age group from zero to 3, and we need a significant amount of resources there," Scheppach said. "The research tells us that if these children get tender loving care and learn to read and so forth, it'll cut down on crime and delinquency later."

There are 32 Republican governors, 17 Democrats (including Miller) and one independent (Angus King of Maine). The sharpest partisan split, says Scheppach, involves approaches to education. Republicans, for instance, are more inclined to favor tax-supported vouchers that allow parents to send their children to the school of their choice.

However, there is mostly bipartisan unity among the governors on a broad range of federal issues. These include welfare and Medicaid reform, and children's health care.

Scheppach said the governors also are united in their frustration with Congress because they want more freedom to distribute federal job training funds as they see fit. He said Congress has balked to appease special interest groups such as vocational training professionals, who don't want to compete at the state level with other job skill providers for federal funds.

"A lot of times they think they have more protection if the federal government allocates the money," Scheppach said.

The association usually meets twice a year. Their meetings in late January or early February are in Washington, D.C., and focus on federal issues. The meetings held outside the nation's capital, such as Las Vegas, focus on state issues.

The association serves as the governors' lobbying arm in Congress. A nine-member executive committee of governors approves policy for the association.

With Miller as chairman, the committee includes five Republicans and four Democrats. When he is succeeded as chairman by GOP Gov. George Voinovich of Ohio, the committee will have five Democrats and four Republicans.

The association also runs a Center for Best Practices, funded by donations from major corporations. If a state wants to launch a welfare program, for instance, it can contact the center to get details on the most successful similar programs launched by other states.

One of the closed-door sessions at the conference will occur Tuesday afternoon, when the governors meet with corporate "fellows" who have contributed money to the center. They'll be discussing health care, governing in the Information Age, and trade and competition in a global market.

Association spokeswoman Becky Fleischauer said the closed-door sessions are necessary because the governors meet in such a large gathering only twice a year.

"Governors don't often get the opportunity to sit down governor to governor, where they can speak frankly," she said.

The corporations, of course, get the ear of the governors but that doesn't prevent some of them from getting into hot water. Tobacco giant Philip Morris Inc. has been in the news because of the massive cigarette industry settlement that sprung from lawsuits filed by Nevada and several other states on behalf of cancer victims.

Columbia/HCA, one of the nation's largest hospital operators, is under a federal probe for allegedly overbilling Medicare patients, including Nevadans. The company also runs Columbia Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, which the Service Employees International Union is attempting to organize. Several hundred union members picketed the hospital last spring.

This is the second time the governors' association is meeting in Nevada. The first time was at Lake Tahoe in 1973.