National Governors Association Centennial

1980-1989
1980		1980 Winter Meeting: Washington, DC (February 24-26) During the Winter Meeting, a day-long conference is held at which representatives of the federal government, state governments, the private sector, and academia examine the scientific issues associated with a national hazardous waste management program. 1980 Annual Meeting: Denver, CO (August 3-5) Chair: Otis Bowen M.D., IN At the Annual Meeting, governors launch a multi-year discussion and strategy for restoring balance to the federal system. The World Health Organization announces the eradication of smallpox worldwide. Civil war breaks out in El Salvador between the right-wing government and leftist rebels. Former Beatle John Lennon is assassinated in New York City. Eric Heiden wins four gold medals in speed skating, and in what has become known as the "Miracle on Ice," the U.S. hockey team defeats the Soviet Union to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The U.S. leads a boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest of the USSR's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupts, spewing 51 million cubic yards of volcanic ash, dirt, and rocks, leveling nearby forests and killing 61 people. A boatlift from the Port of Mariel brings 125,00 refugees to the United States from Cuba. Astronomer and Astrobiologist Carl Sagan cowrites Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, a production of the Public Broadcasting System that is seen in 60 nations worldwide. The media first report an FBI sting dubbed "Abscam," in which agents posing as Middle-Eastern businessmen offer bribes to elected officials in exchange for political favors. Federal school lunch program guidelines define ketchup and pickle relish as vegetables. President Jimmy Carter signs the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund, designed to promote cleanup of hazardous waste sites. The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act makes states responsible for the disposal of commercial low-level radioactive waste and allows states to form compacts for disposal of low-level radioactive waste at regional facilities to be located within each compact. The new U.S. Department of Education begins operating, its functions having been transferred from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. A federal judge strikes down a Texas law barring public education to undocumented children. The federal Revenue-sharing Program to the states ends. Former Maine Governor Edmund Muskie becomes U.S. Secretary of State. NGA lifts its long-standing opposition to federal gasoline tax increases, resolving instead that any new federal energy-related tax revenue be used for highways. President Jimmy Carter is defeated for reelection by former California Governor Ronald Reagan.
1981		Former California Governor Ronald Reagan is inaugurated President. 1981 Winter Meeting: Washington, DC (Feb. 22-24) At the Winter Meeting, governors are addressed regarding President Reagan's economic recovery program, including spending and tax reductions. 1981 Annual Meeting: Atlantic City, NJ (August 9-11) Chair: George Busbee, GA At the Annual Meeting, Vice President George H.W. Bush tells governors of President Reagan's success in securing congressional enactment of his budget and tax recommendations and of the administration's plans for regulatory relief. He notes that a list of prospective areas of reform sent by governors to the administration's Task Force on Regulatory Relief promises to be helpful. Egypt's Anwar Sadat is assassinated by Islamic extremists angered by the 1979 peace accord with Israel. An assassination attempt seriously injures President Ronald Reagan and critically injures his Press Secretary, Jim Brady. The first woman Supreme Court Justice-Sandra Day O'Connor-is appointed. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is first detected among homosexuals and intravenous drug users. IBM introduces its personal computer. Music TeleVision (MTV) is formed. The first reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle Columbia, is launched. The Reagan Administration directs the CIA to assist Contra guerrillas opposed to Nicaragua's Sandinista government. A federal Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) system is established to give states flexibility in the use of federal funding to provide social services to those in need. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act tightens welfare eligibility and encourages states to develop work demonstration programs. Former South Carolina Governor James Edwards becomes Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.
1982		1982 Winter Meeting: Washington, DC (Feb. 21-23) At the Winter Meeting, a compromise federalism policy statement is approved unanimously by governors at the closing plenary session. Central to the statement is the governors' agreement with President Reagan's proposals for full federal assumption of Medicaid and for transfer of a range of categorical programs to state responsibility, and their disagreement with the Administration's suggestion that responsibility for food stamps and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) be assigned to the states. Governors recommend that the AFDC-food stamp portion of the proposal be deferred for further negotiations, and that the states take over a negotiated set of federal categorical programs. 1982 Annual Meeting: Afton, OK (August 8-10) Chair: Richard Snelling, VT At both the Winter and Annual Meetings, a proposal for support of a Constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget is defeated. Construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, designed by 21-year-old Maya Ying Lin, is completed. The breakup of AT&T takes place in settlement of a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the corporate giant. The Federal Communications Commission gives approval for cellular telephone service. The Jarvik artificial heart is implanted.
1983		1983 Winter Meeting: Washington, DC (Feb. 27-Mar. 1) At the Winter Meeting, governors agree to a statement calling on Congress to adopt a budget resolution for fiscal 1984 that would reduce the federal deficit to about two percent of GNP-or $90 billion-by 1988. 1983 Annual Meeting: Portland, ME (July 31-Aug. 2) Chair: Scott Matheson, UT Position of Vice Chairman/Chairman-elect is established. At the Annual Meeting, governors begin long-term discussions of education for economic growth and competitiveness. Vice President George Bush tells governors that the Reagan administration does not favor sending troops into combat in Central America and is not trying to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Two terrorist attacks in Lebanon-one on the U.S. Embassy and the other at a Marine base-kill more than 150 people. Compact disc technology is introduced in the United States. Federal legislation is signed declaring the third Monday in January as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The bipartisan National Commission on Excellence in Education issues the report A Nation at Risk, portraying the dire state of American education and warning of its serious consequences for U.S. economic competitiveness abroad. The Democratic Governors Association is founded.
1984		1984 Winter Meeting: Washington, DC (Feb. 26-28) At the Winter Meeting, governors discuss the high cost of health care and the role of state chief executives on the front line of health care cost containment. They adopt an Executive Committee proposal targeted at raising federal revenue by 5 percent over two years, reducing defense and entitlement program spending, and giving the President line-item veto authority. 1984 Annual Meeting: Nashville, TN (July 29-31) Chair: James Thompson, IL A Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India leaks poison gas, killing 2,000 people and injuring 200,000. French researchers identify the AIDS-causing virus. Hewlett-Packard produces the first laptop computer. Apple Computer introduces the McIntosh. At the Winter Olympics, Scott Hamilton wins the gold medal in figure skating. At the Summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles, which is boycotted by the nations of Eastern Europe, Mary Lou Retton becomes the first non-Eastern European to win the gold medal in all-round gymnastics, and Carl Lewis wins four gold medals in track and field events. The U.S. Surgeon General warns of the dangers of second-hand smoke. Congress passes legislation to cut federal highway funds to states that do not raise the legal drinking age to 21. The Western Governors' Association is formed through a merger of the Western Governors' Conference and the Western Governors' Policy Office.
1985		1985 Winter Meeting: Washington, District of Columbia (Feb. 24-26) At the Winter Meeting, governors are addressed by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan regarding economic conditions. 1985 Annual Meeting: Boise, ID (August 4-6) Chair: John Carlin, KS At the Annual Meeting, governors discuss the trade deficit. The wreck of the Titanic is discovered by a joint French-U.S. team. Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev begins an effort toward openness and democratization in the Soviet Union known as Glasnost. President Ronald Reagan orders a trade embargo against Nicaragua's Sandinista government. North Korea joins the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state. Microsoft introduces "Windows," an operating system that comes to dominate the personal computer market. The Supreme Court rules in Garcia v. San Antonio Transit Authority that the National Labor Relations Act, which requires minimum wage and overtime payment to employees, extends to the employees of state and local governments. A U.S. budget-balancing bill is enacted. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency bans leaded gasoline. Former Indiana Governor Otis Ray Bowen becomes Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. At their annual meeting, Governors adopt a policy position stating that the federal government should set standards for solid waste disposal, leaving enforcement of solid waste disposal programs in the hands of state and local authorities.
1986		1986 Winter Meeting: Washington, DC (Feb. 23-25) At the Winter Meeting, in an address commemorating the Bicentennial of the Constitution, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger reminds Governors that given their sovereign status, any of what became the original 13 states could have negotiated peace with the enemy. It was a testament to the strength of the founding fathers' convictions that they worked together instead to found a nation. 1986 Annual Meeting: Hilton Head, SC (August 24-26) Chair: Lamar Alexander, TN The French Ambassador presents governors with crystal replicas of the Statue of Liberty. At the Annual Meeting, governors hear the reports of seven task forces created the previous year to study school leadership and management, teaching, school choice, readiness, school facilities, technology, and whether college students were learning. An accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near Kiev in the Ukraine releases a radioactive cloud. The U.S. military bombs Libya in protest of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's support of international terrorism. "Baby Doc" Duvalier is forced out of his dictatorship in Haiti. The Challenger Space Shuttle explodes on takeoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing the eight-member crew, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe, chosen for the mission in a competition administered by the Council of Chief State School Officers. At the 100th anniversary celebration of the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty, 38,000 immigrants take the oath of citizenship in a ceremony conducted by Warren Burger, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Immigration Reform and Control Act makes it illegal for businesses to employ undocumented immigrants but provides as well for a one-time program to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants who meet specific residency requirements. The federal Tax Reform Act lowers individual tax rates from 50 percent to 28 percent. Congress overrides President Ronald Reagan's veto of antiapartheid legislation to institute an embargo on South African imports and to ban most American investments there. The National Governors Association issues Time for Results: The Governors' 1991 Report on Education, recommending what needs to be done by 1991 to improve the U.S. education system.
1987		1987 Winter Meeting Washington, DC (Feb. 22-24) At their Winter Meeting, Governors adopt a policy position seeking welfare reform to include: a national minimum benefit level funded by the federal government for single parents, intact families, married couples without children, and single adults; cost-of-living variations for families with children; and a welfare-to-work component whose resulting savings would be used to support the federal minimum benefit. 1987 Annual Meeting: Traverse City, MI (July 26-28) Chair: Bill Clinton, AR At the Annual Meeting, governors discuss reports on the Barriers Project, composed of five NGA task forces that had studied what were considered to be the most widespread and crippling barriers facing the United States: welfare dependency, school dropouts, teen pregnancy, adult illiteracy, and alcohol and drug abuse. The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 22.6 percent, on what becomes known as Black Monday (October 19). Congress holds hearings on the "Iran-Contra" scandal, in which profits from the sale of arms to Iran have been used by the U.S. to fund Contra guerrillas in their efforts to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Congress overrides President Ronald Reagan's veto of an $87.5 billion highway and transit bill allowing states to raise the speed limit to 65 mph on sparsely-traveled roads. Louisiana becomes the first state to make HIV testing and disclosure of HIV test results mandatory for marriage-license applicants.
1988		1988 Winter Meeting Washington, DC (Feb. 21-23) At the Winter Meeting, three experts on federalism make presentations on the history and current status of state-federal relations, and all agree that states are the sources of creativity in government and that a better balance among various levels of government is crucial to the protection of civil liberties, to public participation in government, and to the preservation of regional differences. Governor Busbee of Georgia proposes a Constitutional Convention to sort out local, state, and federal responsibilities. Governors adopt a policy position urging that Congress direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to facilitate waste reduction and recycling and to establish a minimum national standard for incinerator emissions, a management scheme for incinerator ash, and a state-based tracking system for biomedical waste. 1988 Annual Meeting: Cincinnati, OH (August 7-9) Chair: John Sununu, NH At the Annual Meeting, governors discuss aspects of federalism, including the recent expansion of unfunded and underfunded federal mandates, federal preemption of traditional state authority, and Supreme Court decisions removing 10th Amendment protections. At the Winter Olympics, Brian Boitano wins the gold medal in figure skating, and in the Summer Olympics Florence Griffith-Joyner and her sister-in-law, Jackie Joyner Kersee, win a total of six gold medals in track and field. A measure is adopted at the World Environmental Summit in Montreal-and ratified by the U.S. Senate-to reduce the presence of ozone-depleting chlorofluorobcarbons. The Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) provides a comprehensive emergency management system that includes federal coordination of natural disaster assistance to state and local governments. The Family Support Act expands the scope of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, provides for child care and Medicaid for those moving from welfare to work, and creates the Jobs Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) to strengthen workfare. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act establishes requirements for Indian tribes to negotiate with states to open casino and other 'high-stakes' gambling enterprises. Former Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburgh is sworn in as U.S. Attorney General. Evan Mecham of Arizona becomes the first U.S. Governor in more than 50 years to be impeached. (In 1929, Henry S. Johnston of Oklahoma was impeached and removed from office). Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis is defeated in the presidential election by Vice President George H.W. Bush.
1989		1989 Winter Meeting Washington, DC (Feb. 26-28) At the Winter Meeting, governors discuss foreign relations and are told by Henry Kissinger not to place trust in a single Soviet leader like Mikhail Gorbachev because of the Soviets' history of expansion and weakening of nations along their borders. Governors discuss the need for improvements in health care and education of Americans in order to better compete on the global stage. Governors adopt a policy position calling for stronger auto emission control measures in clean air legislation. 1989 Annual Meeting: Chicago, IL (July 30-Aug. 1) Chair: Gerald Baliles, VA At the Annual Meeting, President George H. W. Bush speaks about the recent passage of welfare reform via the Family Support Act of 1988. The first National Summit on Education is held in Charlottesville, Virginia, where the President and the nation's governors discuss ways to improve the nation's educational system and agree on a series of goals for educational reform. The Exxon Valdez hits a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling approximately 10 million gallons of oil. Charleston, South Carolina takes a direct hit from Hurricane Hugo. Federal legislation is enacted to bail out failing savings and loans.