NEWS CONFERENCE 21

tact that he has been elected by a Legislature that is primarily Demo-
cratic to embarrass the administration. He is too fine a public servant
for this. He has indicated by his past performance that he is not only
capable and qualified but certainly above political machination. I
fully believe I'll be able to work with him very well.

Q. Mr. Agnew, this letter suggests that the reason he was withdraw-
ing was because running for the office might cause a great problem in
the Legislature, when, in fact, if you had the votes, wouldn't you insist
on his running for the office?

A. Well, I don't have the votes, and what I would do if I had them
would have to wait that determination. Since that's not feasible, I
can't reach the question right at this moment.

Q. Mr. Agnew, have you put together vet and solidified a specific
legislative program, a complete program?

A. We're in the process, Mr. DeFilippo, of putting together such a
program, and we have certain ideas about what we hope to achieve
during this first session. We've been reviewing my positions during
the campaign and making a judgment as to what things can be im-
plemented in this first legislative session or where the targets of im-
plementation in this first session should be. Some of the things, of
necessity, must await constitutional reform and executive reform before
they can be achieved. For example, in these program coordinator posts
that I'm in the process of naming at this time, having already named
Mr. McCain and Mr. Cole, they will deal with the 204 State agencies
of government in certain experimental groupings. The Task Force on
Modern Management and the continuing study may change these
groupings. In short, you could probably have 5 or 6 different group-
ings of agencies that would lend themselves to some logical considera-
tion, but the best grouping will be a matter of experimentation.

Q. Governor Agnew, do you have any idea what you intend to sub-
mit in specific legislation, for example traffic safety and mass transit,
this session?

A. Well, I will give you such an idea very soon after I take office, but
I'm not ready to do so this morning.

Q. Mr. Agnew, you have appointed commissions now on taxation
and the area of civil rights. Apparently you have made this your in-
terest in seeking some legislative programs. Can we expect other com-
mittees in other areas of government endeavor?