Paul Patton on Principles & Values Former Democratic KY Governor

Religious affiliation: Presbyterian.

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Member of Democratic Governors Association.

Governors are, by definition, a different type of politician. They must be independent and pragmatic leaders, often reaching across party lines to get the people’s business done. Democratic Governors bring these skills to bear for the benefit of all of their citizens. They are leading the way with innovative ways to strengthen families, improve the quality of life, and prepare for the future. These principles are why Democratic Governors are good executives, good candidates, and will regain the majority of statehouses in 2002.
• Balancing budgets, investing in priorities and providing responsible tax cuts: support tax relief that is fair for working families.
• Creating new jobs and succeeding in the new economy: sustain economic development, particularly for small businesses that create the majority of new jobs.
• Supporting economic development in rural areas: ensure that rural and underserved communities have the technology needed to participate in the New Economy.
• Improving public schools and investing in our youngest children: the most important aspect to insure a child’s education is to have the best possible teachers in the classroom.
• Protecting patients’ rights and providing seniors with affordable prescription drugs: guarantee that doctors and patients, not HMO bureaucrats, make medical decisions.
• Keeping streets, schools and communities safe: anti-crime measures that promise swift, severe and certain punishment, [plus] smart prevention measures like community policing.
• Improving quality of life through smart growth: excessive growth and sprawl threaten our communities
• Promoting clean air, clean water and clean neighborhoods: the old debate between environmental protection and economic development presented a false choice.
• Promoting personal responsibility through the next generation of welfare reform

Member of Midwestern Governors' Association.

The Midwestern Governors’ Conference (MGC) was created in December, 1962. The members of the conference include the governors of 13 Midwestern states. The MGC is a non-profit, bipartisan organization that brings together top state leaders to work cooperatively on important regional public policy issues.

The purpose of the Midwestern Governors’ Conference is “to foster regional development, to attain greater efficiency in state administration, to facilitate interstate cooperation and improve intergovernmental relationships, and to provide a medium for the exchange of views and experiences on subjects of general importance to the people of the Midwestern states.” In pursuit of these objectives, the conference has, through the years, established a wide array of committees, task forces and study groups charged with investigating and reporting on various issues of regional concern.

Recent subject areas addressed by various MGC committees and working groups have included agriculture, economic development, trade, child support enforcement, worker retention and recruitment, and tourism promotion. The results of these efforts have ranged from written reports to cooperative efforts. The conference also addresses these and other issues through policy statements and resolutions.

The conference also seeks to meet its goal of providing a forum for the exchange of information by sponsoring periodic meetings. In addition to the annual meetings, the conference has occasionally sponsored special meetings and regional roundtables devoted to specific issues such as international trade, state anti-drug strategies, and child support enforcement efforts. The MGC is increasingly concentrating on federal programs and policies and their impact on the region. This growing focus led to the addition (in late 1998) of a Washington-based staff person to monitor federal issues for the MGC.

Member of Southern Governors' Association.

The Southern Governors’ Association first met in 1934 to discuss the repeal of discriminatory rates for transporting goods by rail, [and since then SGA] has represented the common interests of southern states’ chief executives and provided a vehicle for promoting them. The ongoing mission of SGA is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan, regional forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state and regional problems.

Objectives:
1. Identify Vital Issue Interests of Southern States. Through SGA, governors identify federal issues of regional concern. SGA then closely follows these issues, analyzes their regional impact and communicates information back to the governors’ offices through reports and meetings. On select federal issues, governors and their staffs formulate regional policy and make recommendations.
2. Advocate Regional Interests in Washington. Through SGA, governors advance their mutual interests in Washington and speak with a unified voice on issues important to the region. Through resolutions, joint letters, Congressional testimony, meetings, and other vehicles, SGA communicates the region’s concerns to Congress, the Administration and federal agencies.
3. Enhance Regional Cooperation. SGA serves as a forum to expedite cooperation among the southern states in solving regional problems. State initiatives reduce dependence on the federal government, maximize state resources, benefit the individual states, enhance interstate relations and place the South in the forefront of regional cooperation and innovation.
4. Promote Innovative Southern Programs and Practices. SGA provides comparative policy information to its members on pressing issues. Through report and other mechanisms, SGA facilitates the exchange of information on individual state responses to pressing regional concerns or federal government actions.