Press Release

Friday, September 7, 2001 For more information, contact:
For Immediate Release Jen Waller, Communications Assistant
859-288-6154 or http://sga.state.ky.us/

GOVERNORS TO MEET WITH CORPORATE LEADERS TO DISCUSS
WELFARE REFORM

LEXINGTON, Ky. — During the Southern Governors’ Association’s (SGA) 67th annual meeting, the governors will meet with two corporate leaders to discuss reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Rodney J. Carroll, President and CEO of the Welfare to Work Partnership, and Michael Dulan, President of Community Development Banking for Bank of America, will discuss corporate successes under TANF and how the successful welfare to work effort presided over by the governors has helped southern companies grow over the last five years.

“Welfare reform has worked because of the innovative efforts of state governments and the business community,” said Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. “I hope we can build an even stronger relationship between the governors and businesses as we move toward TANF reauthorization next year. We must protect the TANF block grant and the funding flexibility that was included in the 1996 agreement.”

Moving people from welfare to work has long been a top priority for all southern governors. Since passage of the 1996 welfare reform bill, states in the South, on average, have reduced their welfare rolls by 50 percent. For the last five years, 20,000 companies, both large and small, have joined together under the Welfare to Work Partnership and agreed to hire former recipients of public assistance.

This plenary session will be held on Tuesday, September 11, at 9:45 a.m. in Ballroom F at the Marriott’s Griffin Gate Resort Hotel in Lexington.

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8 There is no registration fee for media; however, media must be registered to receive credentials that permit access to the sessions and press conferences only. Please visit the SGA website: http://www.southerngovernors.org/ or Kentucky's website: http://sga.state.ky.us for registration and conference schedule information. You can also obtain press releases and photos following each SGA session on these websites.

8 For information on live video streaming, please visit the KET website: http://edit-www.ket.org/content/sga2001/