DEPOSITED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Letter of Transmittal THE JOINT FEDERAL-STATE ACTION COMMITTEE DECEMBER 5, 1958. DEAR SIRS: The Joint Federal-State Action Committee herewith submits its second progress report. Some of the papers prepared by the joint staffs and other supplemental materials are contained in the appendix. This report reviews the actions taken on the recommendations submitted in the first progress report. The Committee urges that its recommendations in this second report also be transmitted to the Congress and State legislatures. In its future work, the Committee plans to emphasize (1) the financial problems underlying the transfer of responsibility for governmental functions, and (2) the identification of emerging problems and the appropriate division of responsibility for them among the several levels of government. Respectfully, lave Dunell LANE DWINELL, Governor of New Hampshire, Riabrad ROBERT B. ANDERSON, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE I. Text of The President's Letter of May 13, 1958, to The Honorable Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of II. Excerpt from the Federal Register, May 27, 1958: Chapter XVII-Federal Civil Defense Administra- tion, Federal Disaster Assistance.. III-B. Statement of Governor Lane Dwinell, Cochairman of IV. Alternative to the Initial Telephone Tax Proposal. Part I: Introduction This is the Second Progress Report of the Joint Federal-State Action Committee, which was established in July 1957. The first report, issued December 5, 1957, described the purposes of the Joint Committee, its basic approach, and the recommendations made to the President and the Chairman of the Governors' Conference. The present report describes the actions taken by the President and the Governors' Conference on the recommendations laid before them by the Committee. In addition, the report takes up a number of issues which the Committee had held over for consideration during the 1958 meetings. Before reporting the details of the Committee's work during 1958, it is appropriate to outline the frame of reference which has guided it. The occasion for establishing the Committee was furnished by the President's Williamsburg address of June 24, 1957, before the 49th annual meeting of the Governors' Conference. The President proposed that the Governors and the Federal administration form "a task force for action" for the purpose of seeking ways and means to strengthen the Federal system by strengthening State governments as essential components of this system. The process of attaining this objective requires a continuing close scrutiny of the distribution of present governmental authority and responsibility to determine which areas are appropriate for increased State participation. Looking ahead, the fulfillment of this objective calls for recommendations for the proper allocation of Federal and State responsibility for such emerging problems as legitimately fall within the sphere of governmental action. The Governors' Conference agreed with the President's proposal, and the Joint Federal-State Action Committee, composed of Governors and Federal officials, was formed. Its mission as set forth in Progress Report No. 1, is to (1) Designate functions that might be shifted from the Federal Government to the State governments; (2) Recommend Federal and State revenue adjustments to enable the States to assume such functions; and (3) Identify functions and responsibilities likely to require future governmental attention (the emerging problems) and rec |