The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-04-02


 legislature. Accompanying the Cali fornia bill is a resolution memorial izing Congress to pass national full employment bill as a necessary companion piece of legislation to the proposed state law.
 A similar bill is expected to be introduced in the New York State legislature in the near future, and from advices and inquiries received in Washington from various state capitals. there may be other stat4, law-making bodies considering such measures this year, when A of the 48 are in session.
 The California bill follows closely on the pattern of the parent full employment bill introduced in the U. s. Senate, with the one import ant exception that it makes the primary responsibility for support" ing maximum employment a func- tion of the state government, and calls on the federal government to supplement the state ald only to tho extent that the state government is not able to meet Its unemployment problem for its own citizens.
 MAJOR BUG" REMOVED
 By incorporating this provision in the California bill, one of the major criticisms of the federal bill has been removed. When Senator Mur- ray transmitted to the Senate with out recommendation the first draft of full employment bill, late in 1944, one of the cries raised against 1t was that 1t was more federal pa- ternalism, more making the na- tional government responsible for the welfare of all the citizens with. out effort on their part.
 One of the big kicks against WPA was that 1t by-passed local govern. ment. By having a state government assume the primary responsibility the federal governments load would be materially frightened and the move to put more of the functions of government back on the state level would be considerably further. ed.
 Aside from this one change, the California bill picks up much of the language of the revised Murray Wagner-Thornas- 'Mahoney bill as introduced in the U. s. Senate in January.
 The governor would be required to submit to the state legislature an annual budget estimate on the total state economy, public as well as private, for the following year. In- cluded in the budget would be an estimate of the labor force, and the number of job opportunities. On that basis, the state legislature would be called upon to develop new industries, develop state re- sources and encourage through state action public works and non-gov- ernmental expenditures which would take up the slack in employ ment. Finally there would be a pre- sentation of the relationship be. tween the state and federal pro- grams.
 NOT A STATE WPA
 The California proposal is not in. terpreted as being "job guaran. tee" program, and 1t Is in no sense a state WPA program which would merely transfer the tax burden for supporting public works from fed eral to state governments. But for the state to assume larger burdens Of government is in direct line with recent votes in Congress, which handed back to the states greater responsibility for managing their own unemployment and social se- curity programs in the reconversion period.
 Some students of government ir Washington even go so far as to ad.. vocate the creation of a departmen: : which would be responsible for in.. creasing Federal-State cooperation, an almost entirely neglected field of public administration.