2
Since their initial meeting in 1908 to discuss interstate water problems, the Governors haveworked through the National Governors' Association to deal collectively with issues of publicpolicy and governance. The association's ongoing mission is to support the work of the Governorsby providing a bipartisan forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve stateproblems.The members of the National Governors' Association (NGA) are the Governors of the fifty states,the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, and the commonwealths of theNorthern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. The association has a nine-member ExecutiveCommittee and three standing committees—on Economic Development and Commerce, HumanResources, and Natural Resources. Through NGA's committees, the Governors examine anddevelop policy and address key state and national issues. Special task forces often are created tofocus gubernatorial attention on federal legislation or on state-level issues.The association works closely with the administration and Congress on state-federal policy issuesthrough its offices in the Hall of the States in Washington, D.C. The association serves as avehicle for sharing knowledge of innovative programs among the states and provides technicalassistance and consultant services to Governors on a wide range of management and policyissues.The Center for Best Practices is a vehicle for sharing knowledge about innovative state activities,exploring the impact of federal initiatives on state government, and providing technical assistanceto states. The center works in a number of policy fields, including agriculture and ruraldevelopment, economic development, education, energy and environment, health, socialservices, technology, trade, transportation, and workforce development.Copyright 2000 by the National Governors’ Association, 444 North Capitol Street, Washington,D.C. 20001-1512. All rights reserved.The responsibility for the accuracy of the analysis and for the judgments expressed lies with theauthors; this document does not constitute policy positions of the National Governors’ Associationor individual Governors.For more information on other publications by the NGA Center for Best Practices, visit theCenter’s web site at <www.nga.org/Center>.
Leave a Comment