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It is an intolerable fact that New York state forces local governments to pay more of welfare costs than do forty eight other states New York State is next to last among the fifty states in the state's contribution to total welfare costs it is an in dollar bill fact that more than thirty states require local governments to pay less than five percent of the cost of welfare programs while New York state requires local governments to pay twenty six point five percent of this cost. There is no excuse for these facts in one nine hundred seventy New York State which has always taken pride in its leadership for social progress has simply failed to keep pace with the rest of the nation instead of leading in welfare reform New York State now trails every state but what it is time to end that inequity and catch up with the rest of America New York City taxpayers now spend each year more than six hundred million dollars to pay the local costs of public assistance welfare and Medicaid taxpayers and other localities throughout the state have comparable burdens and are being compelled to put increasing reliance on already incredibly overburdened tax resources especially the real estate tax they find themselves in a desperate financial squeeze because of the local cost of welfare almost half of West Chester is next budget is going to welfare in Nassau It's thirty five percent in Erie forty eight percent in Albany fifty eight point four percent in Niagara fifty five point five percent in Schenectady forty four point four percent we can wait no longer the local cost of welfare and Medicaid in this state can and must be assumed by the state. Therefore I am proposing a two year phased state takeover of all welfare Medicaid cost and administration local government could continue to operate social services including programs to provide jobs for the for those now trapped in welfare and I shall ask Governor Rockefeller to include provision for such a policy in the one nine hundred seventy state budget by this simple dramatic one step the state can free local resources to fight crime and narcotics to clean streets and to finance neighborhood development projects the things that our money should be going for of course this is only a first step federal takeover of welfare costs and ultimately a totally new system is critically necessary but we cannot wait for federal action the state must act now. They have parties and they transferred and they transferred to negotiations met yesterday and. The. Negotiations. Ended yesterday without. The speed of progress that I would like to see and I am therefore calling the mediators to kill Mr O'Grady and Mr McDonald in to see me at a meeting Thursday next of this week at city hall. I have to take pleasure in releasing today. This pamphlet. Which are Addiction Services Agency. Has caused to be published. Fifty thousand copies are today being made available and will be distributed throughout neighborhoods. And to the Board of Education. It's a very frank and right honest I think. Very readable piece of writing on the danger of narcotics and what it means to the average person. Some time ago it was thought that narcotics and narcotics addiction was somebody else's problem some of the neighborhood some of the press and some of the parents some of the child I think it's increasingly understood and accepted that narcotics and the threat of addiction. Is a problem for the ordinary household and the average household so the addiction services agency has produced this book and I should like to express my thanks to the team from J. Walter Thompson advertising company in New York. Who have done this and contributed this effort. Out of their own wish to assist the city I'm very grateful to J. Walter Thompson and to the team that brought this about they are here today in the mayor's office and I thank them publicly for what they've done Mr David S.T.A. Mr Len Clark was to Bob Roche and Mr Mike swear and. I thank you gentlemen for this contribution that you've made to our city we hope that increasingly this will become part of the information and education on the subject of narcotics and I encourage all who are interested to read the pamphlet. That's commissioner bear to be here today and may have some other questions when I'm through with these general announcements. Tony there is I mean just on the front of you I recognized I yield Why are you there. You I recognize Mr President you know wants to. Try Me Well let me know. Oh I think you know what I mean give me a break OK. I'm going to get in the act as mayor of. Referring. To all the U.K. yet still guys don't quite. Sure what that is as chairman of the Supreme Court is your situation a little over he was talking about. OK As chairman of the newspaper report of the Christmas party. I joined with Tom post rather president along members of the new into our office Father the Son to the nineteenth and the hotel in New York this year and protection for you Tony no charge and I would not read your history into remission of newspapers in the slightest thank you very much Tom I preach it it's a free party it's there for all of you. That you must bring a story that will not allow you women are bringing left OK you know the Toy Story I wouldn't like to play you know like a Deputy Mayor thank you very much if I am. That I think I got it right. I got something better for you OK. Yes sir well. Here's a new goodie that you can have. My right sitting Ronnie Meyers Eldridge. Who is I'm appointing a special assistant to the mayor. Mrs Eldritch. Comes from the community of New York she's been long active in political and civic affairs on the West Side of Manhattan. As a district leader and a reform Democratic club up until nine hundred sixty eight when she resigned. As a member of the National Steering Committee for concerned Democrats. As a trusted associate of Robert Kennedy. Was a member of the Democratic. Executive Committee of the new Democratic coalition. As coordinator of Democrats for the Rio for the reelection of myself. As a member of the mayor's campaign Advisory Council. Her work on the West Side of Manhattan I think is well known in that community and I think elsewhere. In various areas involving the welfare of people and families. She has an intimate knowledge of. The political power structure of this city and state and its relationship to programs where services are delivered to people. To better their lives. She has been active in her community. And matters involving community centers. Traffic job training. Matters involving the aged. And of course housing which is a critical item and that particular part of the city. I'm grateful to are for coming into city hall. And taking on the job of assisting me and a deputy mayor designate a radio particularly. In respect of community affairs the delivery of services. The development of programs. Legislative strategy. And a variety of other things that have to do with. The ways and means by which they political and other power structures of the city and state will listen to us. Also ways and means by which we in City Hall can. Listen to the people. I think care and her husband and her children. For joining me and this tranquil building. And make a speech you know. Nothing you can. Let me do here. In city hall and there will be a very busy devising that you know. Where. I have a while to the. Democratic Party. I think so yes I mean I am not going to be able to spend that much time and sort of entering into something that's very new but I would hope yes that I will continue to do what has historically been my thing and. Will enable me I suppose to be able to know more what's going on and to help bring these two things together. And specific sundress that was sort of the morning Randi. Well I think that I'll be primarily concerned. With. The deputy mayor the new deputy mayor in the coming months for the continuing in and developing the coalition that we created during the campaign and to to establish our communications and participation I would hope that they'll be other people like me who are sort of giving up an amateur standing you know finally going to become part of something instead of being critics on the outside and we really you know hope to continue this. Approach and to develop better communications and better response of both sides. You foresee. A really good government where Democratic. You points to sort of the actions of the. Where it's appropriate Yes definitely. See where it's not the Ministry of kind of the responsibility for running a city from a an administrative point of view where its own program and where its own attitude an approach most definitely what's your reform of approach that through. I don't know when you're a Democrat is the right speed with the voices cause that's right that's why we're on the telephone for a long time as a mayor which we have to you know how do you know. That we it you know we have to do it the way we've always done it we try to evaluate it and it's trying to get everybody as close together as we can. Take our. Are going for it. And. That's far right now everyone knows now from my favorite one of. I really I just haven't had time I mean. I run a I'm trying to run a household. Three children and work here and I have enough problems trying to now keep up with this so that maybe we'll you know as time goes on we'll see I just don't know I don't know. Of the three children you know what is the House what it is that you are we going to work. What do you take a job on the road. Very exceedingly. I say I said a little before Gabe I've spent many years and I'm a little upset about it because I do consider myself an amateur and I've always had a wonderful cover of being a Westside housewife the mother in segment of God too hot or too serious and I could always retreat to that position but. I am. I started right after the primary in this campaign and I just believe very strongly in the city and what it means and I think it's time that people like me who have this starkly always been on the outside and approached it from a very. Responsible but from a almost Dillard Tanishq point of view sometimes when it got too hot we went out and criticized and it's time that we came in and tried to help so I will try and see how it works out. A stand in the kitchen and say if you go back and. I. Don't like a. Right. If you have any questions I'll try and sort of. Work on the what. The. President owes you. Still from going through to strike. At any rate. There's a clearly want to use paper he says that he can turn stars to and it just isn't possible just to receive. There is up to fifty cents US currency you know because I know the answer is no that was done without the knowledge of myself or of the transportation. Ministration of the city of New York. The state agency known as the M.T.A. fair and they did this on their own motion without consultation and without advice to the Florida fashion they have here for the case there. Yes I do I think that's I think that's wrong because it indicates negative thinking on this subject and I think there's plenty of room for positive thinking and much that can be done he said in a moment of some kind I would hope not I'll have more to say on this subject a little bit later on with a very carefully prepared statement as Mr Keel not today but anyway I hope. Not today. You will still feel that what he said there can be I think it can be maintained if there is the will to do it on the part of everybody who has any responsibility in this area what do you it will that data role in an adventure that already tooled up for a higher there would you say that they lack the will. I get I think of that it's an indication of negative thinking when the move in this direction and I do think that that. There are ways and there are means as Mr Killick others have suggested by which the twenty cent fare can be held and I will have more to say about this and specifics in the near future. History right here on the. News story we received heard from other carriers there are players were city officials were asked to stay off your efforts to make common cause I have talked to other elected officials and I think that there's a there's a growing feeling that this must happen. Many of them are surprised to learn that New York State. Makes the least contribution of every state in the union but one. In the area of of welfare. And the New York state mandates on all of the local governments of the state chiefly the counties of the state and the City of New York mandates upon these local governments the highest welfare burden of any state in the union but one exception. Increasingly in recent years state governments have assumed. The local burdens of welfare as they should Massachusetts is the most recent. Thirty states. Mandate no more than five percent less than five percent. Localities. Two years ago you would not have gotten. A you at the New York State Conference of Mayors to support. A statewide assumption of these costs for many reasons it's always regarded as a special New York City problem and that's not exploited. And indeed outside of New York City it's the counties that bear the burden not the mayors and yet the New York State Conference let's just review to go passed a resolution supporting this in principle this is growing and the figures that I read to you about the counties that now find themselves paying upwards of fifty percent. Thirty forty fifty percent of their total county budgets for welfare I think is an indication of. What's happening here is a church issue and. What I think it's a I think it's a governmental concern that New York state must address itself to and I do think that unless New York state the governor the leadership of the state. Face squarely the fact that New York State is behind in this area. We have to be Mark. Down as a state that is the least progressive the most lag. In this whole area and I think it's unacceptable. That we should continue in this fashion going to. The right part do you do you make part of this responsibility for states like this to be done but I prefer to look to the future. And now mobilize these efforts to have New York State in respect of this particular problem. Get modern and let's talk about the future mayor Mr Nickerson indicated today that he felt the problems in New York City are the major problems in New York State and the should be the issues in the gubernatorial campaign you've indicated that you might support a man for governor who would do the most for the city Mr Nickerson talking the way you'd like to hear him talk. Oh I don't know what it's too early for me to make any a political comment on nine hundred seventy. Quite apart from that I do regard Mr Nixon as a very effective county executive who's done a good job Nassau County is the state of New York City is the backbone of the state so this is your will with your idea of what a governor should be like. Would get Europe to you're leading me on the political arena. I'm not ready to be marched into the political arena. We're talking about talking about good government when I mean the state well very. Well then what I'm suggesting here is it is a state is a step program of two years. The first year cost for the whole state welfare Medicaid. First for the entire state not just New York City. It would be. In the area of what was it three three hundred different first year is four hundred four hundred seventy million dollars That's the first year cost of the whole thing. I say the whole thing fifty percent of it for the entire state. Your next question is how the state fund that. Over the past several years I've suggested several ways by which this and other things can be funded other persons have been doing that too. There's been a number of persons and some civic organizations of positively come forward suggested ways and means by which this and other measures can be funded. All I would say on that at the moment is that I'd be glad to sit down with. With the governor and my staff with his staff and point out a number of options. And there are a number of options which are relatively painless and I and a great many others would be glad to support those options very strongly in order to help bring this about. Well again. I don't I think the details of it rather not go into now but they just say this is a we've talked about them before. Eliot Janeway is offering us some right now based on his studies of the matter. There are other groups that have that have offered a series of options and this area and I do think that. I don't think it's all that difficult to write about these are these are items that we stay with just you know statewide stabilize state and he should be only be you should be state yes. Sure the state was to me. So. You know they did you know this is a matching problem the federal government the federal government pays so much and then they require the states. To pay a certain matching share based on certain formulas different state to state pending on how they fit into the formula and then each state each state cannot to fund their share totally or they have the right if they wish to divide it up and mandated on localities and what what the what most states have done the majority of states have now assume the full burden of the state share that the federal government requires. New York state requires its localities to pay more than any other state doesn't proportion with one exception. And what what that's New Jersey what. Recently in recent years increasingly Massachusetts being last the last one to do it progressive states have assumed the full burden on the grounds of their localities simply cannot stand the burden any longer and those rather fixed resources that don't that are not elastic the localities have quite appropriately ought to go for police fire sanitation traffic and I weighs all of those local problems that we all have. Well I I hope you'll come forward with a positive response mayor could we ask your reaction to Mr approach you know volunteering himself out of a. No no that's again that's back in the one nine hundred seventy political arena and. We're back and I'm ready for that on the subject well for you. To get it. Do. You think that the welfare issue being such an expense to the state could avoid becoming the major political issue in the gubernatorial race next year and you think because it's a political year you may not get support from the government because it's a touchy issue. But I don't said I don't see how it seems to me that it's that politically it's as everything to be gained by. Going into one of these hard pressed counties is Nassau County with thirty five percent of its county budget which goes for welfare that's multiplied all over the state be able to say have we think we ought to be relieved of this burden this ought to be put on statewide basis ultimately we'd all like to see it full cost assume by the federal government. We know that they initial steps of this are being talked about in Washington the Nixon administration proposal is a step forward however dollar wise it won't give any relief at all to the counties of New York State fact dollar wise it doesn't have any impact on the industrial states of the north it does on the south dollar wise it does have it in certain innovations and changes which we've long pressed forward which indeed we helped write but did obey some years before the industrial states New York State is included. In all practical terms a get dollar relief of the kind that is desperately needed a man who ran for governor of New York City on an issue in New York state on an issue which is so heavily loaded for the city and the Long Island counties. Where the upstate areas entirely against it has been conditioned well that's as I pointed out a moment ago that is that's rapidly changing as the upstate communities find themselves in a position where they are paying higher and higher percentages of their county budgets over to the local burden of welfare. I ticked off a moment ago of some of the areas where this is increasingly apparent here in Albany right in the state capital fifty eight point four percent of the county budget goes to welfare in Niagara County fifty five point five percent in Schenectady forty four point four in Erie forty eight percent in Nassau County thirty five percent So here you have illustration that in the upstate communities the proportion is even higher than it is here in Nassau County and Suffolk County two zero zero zero. Zero. Zero. Zero these are those figures I just gave you is the proportion of the county budget that goes to welfare now. Yeah the county budget is made up of primarily real estate taxes almost all real estate and this is. You know it's tax levy money we call it. Where required the New York City proportion just as they the New York City contribution to welfare is tax levy money and that's mandated on us by the state legislature by the state. And it's a very. Well New York City's what would be New York City's. First year Medicaid welfare medicaid New York City the first year would be three thirty. Three K.. This is this must come down the road and the sooner the better. If if these counties and this city. Other cities and the state. Ultimately can be relieved of the of the burdens of the cost of welfare and of local education. We may survive fiscally. As you know Michigan governor Millikan in Michigan has proposed this it had an electrifying effect. Among. Public officials everywhere in the United States has been a subject of much conversation. In education. One reason for it is this not so much. The burdens of local costly local cost burden which is very real but the increasing inequities. And relationships between. Tax local tax generating resources and the application of that to schools. What's happening is that the hodgepodge of. School taxes is resulting in unequal. Support for education generally. And as Jeanne Nickerson would give you examples of this and Nassau County where it's just ridiculous doesn't make any sense the way it's going now and this is happening all over the country so. It is a mark I think of progress. And it's the right thing to do for states to move in this area as rapidly as they can as there was present or was for all these for. The present or was finished it was going to ruffle at the state legislature other day Well there was a status on austerity budget too. Well some of these things should have been done a year ago when it was expected recommended and politically probably easier. But it's not too late and time is wasting and the needs are so great and I think it has to be done further as I said a moment ago. There are many many public officials myself included who can point out ways by which this can be financed and done that are not all that thankful and would be glad to carry the burden of campaigning for that kind of thing. I think that. I think that I think the public I think the public would welcome being relieved of the east of the terrible local burden of welfare and. It's See it's cheap at the price to do it if I might myself think that it would be it that it would be a political plus for somebody running statewide to campaign on that basis. Probably. A. Very bad. Conference of Mayors and the League of Cities are opposed. We think would be a disaster and good. I think would be more honest on the part of the Congress just put an end to poverty program. What we're really talking about is congressional hostility the program. We have something comparable We lost the fight to have direct funding on the safe streets bill that was promulgated by the Johnson administration. And drafted by. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. The congress. Over the objections of the administer then administration and a great many institutions around the country amended that bell the final everything for the states. They have since it's been in effect it's been very bad and there are indications around the country that simply isn't working. Some of the predictions as to the disasters that might happen are beginning to take place so much so that amendments have now been introduced. In the Senate I believe and I'm not sure about the house that would rectify that and put it back to where it was supposed to do that that bill that bill had to do with with with bourbon law enforcement and police relations between communities largely racial. In all these cities it sprung out of all of the commissions and studies that were that were made in the course of urban unrest and by funneling everything to the states and many parts of the country it's had the exact opposite effect and it's not the system. New York State and City are in pretty good shape on this. Wave department is the head of the state agency that handles the distribution and allocation of monies that are allocated to New York is doing a good job and we have far less of a problem here than than. Other communities do. And our relations with all the Ne Ne mentioned well. The receptive climate. Fiscally in Albany Well I hope they'll be receptive comment. Receptive atmosphere after all where we all have the same problems as the counties upstate counties as I've tried to point out here have increasingly the same problems that we do we have I think that I think there's an increasing awareness of this just Mayor did you have to watch the president's news conference last night I saw the first portion of it when I was liberated Did you notice his comment about the fact that while out and over five thousand dollars a year minimum for a family of four would be good he just didn't seem to think it was a political reality how do you feel I did not do it I did not see that part of it and I haven't had a chance to study that and I'd rather with all confidential I do. When you hear it. Right. Well once again I'd rather comment on that at a later time. Mr Mayor what is your reaction to. Commission on violence in Washington. Statement on. Illegal acts as being something which should be deplored even if they may lead subsequently to changing laws. But I agree with the commission's view of that is that illegal acts cannot be cannot be tolerated they say. If they are legal that means that the laws being broken and the laws have to be enforced. People don't like the laws and they. Should seek to change them by the democratic process which means by peaceful method and through the democratic governmental structures that we have so you would oppose a civil disobedience mode to changing laws. Scooter. Well I don't again. If you're talking about if you're talking about group activity that turns into demonstrations if they're lawful and within the bounds of the First Amendment protected by the First Amendment that's perfectly proper. There are times there are times when that narrow knife edge is crossed and. Tiley proper and protected behavior becomes illegal because some laws broken and that's when you that's why you have to have. Prevention you would side with the majority rather than the Minority Report. Well I'd rather state my own position which is simply that. That that the First Amendment. Gives very wide protection and fairly wide latitude. To expression dissent and public expression and I'm for that I support of those body of Supreme Court opinions that laid down the dimensions and the parameters of lawful activity. Where you go over the border into one lawful activity. Then there's an obligation on the part of law enforcement officials to enforce the law and that has to be done like it was.