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New York State Deputy Secretary to the Governor National Governors' Conference and Related Federal Issues Policy Development Files


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Overview of the Records

Repository:

New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230

Summary:
The materials in this series were compiled to prepare Governors Nelson A. Rockefeller and Malcolm Wilson and their respective staffs for the National Governors' Conference meetings in 1973 and 1974; and Governor W. Averell Harriman and his staff for meetings held between 1956 and 1958.
Creator:
Title:
National Governors' Conference and related federal issues policy development files
Quantity:

7.5 cubic feet

Inclusive Dates:
1956-1958, 1972-1974
Series Number:
B1219

Arrangement

B1219-82: Arranged roughly by topic in no apparent order.

B1219-07: Chronological.

Scope and Content Note

The materials in this series were compiled to prepare Governors Nelson A. Rockefeller and Malcolm Wilson and their respective staffs for the National Governors' Conference meetings in 1973 and 1974; and Governor W. Averell Harriman and his staff for meetings held between 1956 and 1958.

B1219-82: Background materials such as articles, studies, and reports were used to inform New York State's delegation about issues to be discussed at the meetings from 1973-1974, and to help them develop and articulate the state's policy regarding those issues. At the meetings, governors and their staff from all United States states and territories discussed their policies and developed unified policies to be recommended to the federal government or to be implemented in their home states.

Among the topics of particular concern at the 1973 and 1974 National Governors' Conference meetings were: the energy crisis, energy resources, and energy conservation; national health insurance; revenue sharing; educational finance; welfare and social services, including the food stamp program; and crime and public safety.

Records concerning these issues include: policy position papers and reports from other states and from the private sector; correspondence with executive staff from other states; technical and statistical reports, studies, and surveys on topics such as alternate energy resources and government finance; notes and memoranda among New York's executive staff discussing how to articulate the official position of the governor; background papers prepared for the New York State delegation to the National Governors' Conference meetings; minutes of National Governors' Conference Executive Committee meetings; and National Governors' Conference printed bulletins and newsletters providing background and recent developments on various issues.

Other records include: typescripts of remarks and addresses made at the meetings; notes taken during discussion of issues at the meetings; National Governors' Conference proposed and final policy position papers; correspondence from state agency officials regarding reports of National Governors' Conference committees on various issues; draft and printed legislative bill proposals and amendments, e.g. regarding "manpower" (government assisted job training), schools and educational finance, and revenue sharing and block grants (Better Communities Act and Better Schools Act); and correspondence and memoranda among New York State officials regarding proposed federal legislation. Malcolm Wilson's statement to the House Ways and Means Committee regarding national health insurance (1974); documents from an Executive Chamber Conference on Teacher Effectiveness (1973); and a workbook from a seminar on federal-state-local government relationships (1974) are also included.

B1219-07: This accretion contains Governor Harriman's records from meetings held between 1956 and 1958. Conference programs, correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, news broadcast transcripts, and lists of committee assignments and conference attendees are included. The bulk of the accretion consists of reports and background materials for the highway safety and education committees on which Harriman served, and the civil defense committee that the governor chaired.

Custodial History

B1219-07: These records were transferred to Syracuse University in 1959, and were later transferred to the New York State Archives in 2006. They were accessioned in October 2007.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.

Access Terms

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