Six governors announced five bipartisan policy resolutions on air quality, compensatory mitigation, energy, healthcare and workforce development at the 2024 Winter Meeting of the Western Governors’ Association Monday in Las Vegas.
The resolutions, among 29 approved on a bipartisan basis by Western Governors, serve as the foundation for leveraging their collective influence to advocate for Western priorities in Washington D.C. These include:
Energy in the West: Focuses on modernizing the energy grid, fostering innovation and adapting to shifts in energy sectors influenced by clean energy integration, extreme weather and electrification.
Air Quality: Promotes collaboration between states and the federal government to improve air quality management, address emissions and enhance the use of prescribed fire to mitigate wildfire impacts.
Workforce Development: Calls for expanded work-based learning, career education and lifelong learning initiatives, emphasizing flexible funding and improved coordination across federal and state programs.
Compensatory Mitigation: Supports adherence to state-led wildlife and resource conservation policies and advocates for adaptive management in federal planning.
Health Care: Addresses barriers to physical and behavioral health care in rural, frontier and tribal areas, workforce shortages and the need for stronger state-federal collaboration.
“This organization operates in what I would argue isn’t really bipartisan anymore, it’s nonpartisan, it’s having concrete conversations with experts all across the country, engaging both public sector and private sector individuals and organizations, where we ask tough questions and figure out ways to make that meaningful and solve those problems,” WGA Chair and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said.
The resolutions aim to bolster state-federal cooperation and drive regional priorities across the West, according to the WGA.
