understands that strings sometimes get in the way of efficiency. so we are proposing to the evisceration and the congress, take away some of these inhibitors of making us more efficient, take away the strings and red tape, give us more flexibly in the states, and we can take less money and do more with it. it'll help us, it will help washington balance their budget. >> i would like to add one comment, jack dalrymple from north dakota. we are one of the lucky ones in north dakota. we have a very strong economy. we actually have a budget surplus in our state, so we were able to deal with the effects of sequestration, but they are real. many cases. especially in areas like flood ortrol or water supplies especially roads and highways. we have had to make up for

substantial amount of funding with our own state funds. and we feel blessed that we were able to do that, but these are real dollars, and of course we would like it if the federal funding would continue at the levels that it had been, but, you know, we find our way to stay ahead. i think what frustrates people is the silliness that you get into indie sequestration process . of a part-example time information person at our national park system who provided information to tauru tourists on the interstate highway every summer on how to find the park. the total cost of the part-time person was $35,000, and the federal government chose to cut

and he got quite a bit of attention, and needless to say, and we had to find a way through arant foundation group that could in turn find somebody to staff that position. so sometimes you are jumping through an awful lot of hoops just to solve a problem created by sequestration. >> one last question. >> in dealing with our economic problems, it seems that there are very different strategies across the states, especially looking at the republican- controlled states versus the democratic-controlled states,

and i wondered if the government -- if the governors would care to comment whether this seems to be a question of having different goals or are the goals the same, and if the goals are does nonpartisan analysis about what does work and what does not work fit into this policy? >> that is the beauty of the nga , it gets the governors an opportunity to come together. we have a governors only session where we talk about different issues, and my a lot of times we find our common issues going on in our states. we may have different allusions to the problems facing our states, but we learned from each other through best practices, through innovation, and in a lot of states, we will look at other governors and other programs and that may be of a different political party. in the end, all the governors have the same goal, and that is we want to create a very strong economy, we want to create jobs, we want to improve education, we want to be fiscally sound within

our state budgets. we are all concerned about washington, d.c. and the unfunded mandates and cost shifting down to us. we want more flexibility. those are all things that we have in common. so we may disagree about some policies, you know, how do you grow your economy? some states like to lower taxes, some states want to make adjustments with their taxes, maybe different ways you reform education or your energy policy may be different. governor hickenlooper and i work a lot together and governor dalrymple and governor herbert on issued in our state, but anyway that we can come together and collaborate, we think we are a strong force because while washington many times has in action, a lot of uncertainty, we have governors cannot afford the because we have to balance our budgets, we have to create jobs and improve

education, so we are all about learning from each other and trying to find those best ways to do it. governor? >> just to add a point, i think nga is one of those rare but great opportunities for governors to work together on policy. it does not happen enough, is a greatd it opportunity. and i can talk to john hickenlooper about common goals that we have for colorado in north dakota. 98% of what we talk about we're going to agree on how to go about it, and so we have a form here where we can simply talk policy. we believe that policy is powerful. ,t really is what creates resolves. mary fallin was a chair of our national lieutenant-governor said one time as was i, and we

are still believers that if we talk to each other, we can solve problems together, and it is something that is rarely seen in public these days, but it is still lives. >> we think washington can learn a few lessons from the governors. [laughter] >> you said it, i did not say it. [laughter] >> i agree with that. >> thank you, i appreciated. thank you. [applause] good job. >> is a pleasure to be on the roster with you.

>> and that just ended the news conference here at the national governors association's winter meeting. they're meeting here in washington, d.c. and the next session is about to start in seven minutes, scheduled for 11:00 eastern time. we will be hearing from jeffrey ofelt, the ceo and chair general electric. later today about 3:00 eastern time, the homeland security and public safety committee will talk about defense in the states with some of the representatives from american red cross and a general of the national guard. before this first session of the day begins in about six minutes, we're going to take a look at president obama's remarks to the democratic governors who met here in washington.

he spoke with them in the white house as they gathered in d.c. this week. >> all good? it is wonderful to have america's governors in town. hosting with their spouses, our governors reception here and dinner. it is always a great opportunity to exchange ideas and hear what is happening at the local level. today, we did bring our democratic governors to the white house to spend some time talking about a couple of issues to oure critical constituents into the country, and one of those is the issue of minimum wage and what we can do to give america a raise. many of the governors in this room are pushing to raise their mum wages to help benefit working families and grow their economies. governorabercrombie,

roy, governor o'malley, governor , alsok, governor quinn mentioned in their state of the state addresses, and in my state of the union address, obviously, i promised that i could do what i could, as the head of the executive branch of the federal government, and i have already executive order saying that if you want to do business with the federal government as a federal contractor, then you need to be paying your employees $10.10 an hour. we do not want somebody who is washing dishes for our troops, helping in some ways to care for them to be living in poverty when they are working full-time. and what we have discovered in working with this issue is that increasingly businesses recognize that raising wages for their employees is a smart business issue because they end up having lower turnover rates, higher productivity, higher andle, folks stay longer,

are more focused on their job rather than having to worry about whether or not they can pay their bills at the end of the month. this is not just good policy -- it also happens to be good politics because the truth of the matter is the overwhelming majority of americans think that the minimum wage is a good idea. that is true for independents, that is true for democrats, and it is true for republicans. seen somehere we have of these issues going to referendum, for example in new jersey, even though the republican governor opposed it, it is backed by 60%. and the reason that this is important is not because everybody is going to be benefiting from a hike in the minimum wage. is that most working americans make more than the

minimum wage already. but i think people understand instinctually what this country should be about is if you are working hard and taking responsibility that you can get ahead and look after your families and raising the minimum wage will help 16 million americans. and that is a big deal. i give a boost to our economy as a whole. so i am going to continue to press congress to pass a federal minimum wage bill that goes up an hour, being sponsored currently by senator harkin and representative miller. i will be seeking republicans who are game to work with us and prepared to work with us on this issue. as i said in the state of the lotn, it does not require a of bureaucracy or federal spending. all it requires is for us to stake out a claim on behalf of american workers that is consistent with our values as a nation. and i am going to be interested to hear the efforts of the

governors in this room to see what they can do to make sure that america gets a raise. so i appreciate your presence. we have got a lot of issues on the plate, but i want to highlight that one because it is something that is on a lot of peoples minds. how can we boost people's income and wages if they are working hard so they can get ahead? thank you so much, everybody. thehat was a look at president vice president's meeting with the democratic governors who gather here in washington, d.c. this week. and now we are live for the first session about to start with all of the governors from the national governors association gathered here for their winter meeting in washington, d.c. session dealing with america works -- education and job training. we will be hearing from the ceo and chair of general electric, jeffrey immelt, and governor

mary fallin help put together this year's discussion on with the vice chair, governor hickenlooper of colorado. later today, homeland security and a look safety -- and public safety information at 3:00 eastern time. we will just take a look here as the governors get settled around the conference table and awaiting this first session on america works -- education and job training.