Fallin, governors meet with Obama on 'fiscal cliff'

BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
12/04/12 at 4:15 PM

Gov. Mary Fallin was one of six governors who met with President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday morning to discuss concerns with the "fiscal cliff" facing the federal budget.

In addition to Fallin, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker -- all members of the National Governors Association executive committee -- were part of the delegation, which will meet with congressional leaders from both parties later today.

"We accept that there will be fewer federal resources in the future," Fallin said in a conference call after the White House meeting.

But, she said, cutting federal spending can't be done exclusively at the expense of state government.

The fiscal cliff is the term applied to a series of tax increases and deep budget cuts that go into effect Jan. 1 unless Congress and the White House can come to an agreement on taxes and spending.

The Obama administration has insisted on tax rate increases for high wage earners. House Republicans have offered tax policy changes but have resisted any rate increase and have insisted on deeper cuts to domestic spending, especially on entitlement programs.

Fallin, vice chairwoman of the executive committee, outlined a series of principles that the governors told Obama needed to be kept in mind during budget and tax discussions.Savings for the federal budget have to be savings for state budgets too -- they can't simply be efforts to shift costs from the federal budget to the state budget, she said."Just don't put a lot of unfunded mandates back on the states," Fallin said. "That was one of the things I really emphasized to them."

Further, the budget talks should aim at giving states more flexibility in dealing with federally funded programs in the interest of finding efficiencies and areas of consolidation, she said.

Read more on this story in Wednesday's Tulsa World.

Associated Images:

President Barack Obama, flanked by National Governors Association (NGA) Chairman, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, and NGA Vice Chair, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, meets with the NGA executive committee regarding the fiscal cliff Tuesday in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is at right. CHARLES DHARAPAK/AP Photo

National Governors Association (NGA) Executive Committee member, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, center, listens to NGA Vice Chair, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, left, and NGA Chairman, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, right, talks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, following their meeting with President Barack Obama regarding the fiscal cliff. PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/AP Photo

National Governors Association (NGA) Vice Chair, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, center, talks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Tuesday, following a meeting between the NGA executive committee and President Barack Obama regarding the fiscal cliff. From left are, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Fallin, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, and NGA Chairman, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell. PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/AP Photo

Members of the National Governors Association (NGA) Executive Committee, from left, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton; Chairman, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell; Utah Gov. Gary Herbert; and Vice Chair Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, leave together after speaking to members of the media outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, following their meeting with President Barack Obama regarding the fiscal cliff. PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/AP Photo