New Community Design to the Rescue

Source : http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/072001NCDFULL.pdf

Since their initial meeting in 1908 to discuss interstate water problems, the governors have worked through the National Governors Association to deal collectively with issues of public policy and governance. The association’s ongoing mission is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state problems.

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 the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. The association has a nine-member Executive Committee and three standing committees-on Economic Development and Commerce, Human Resources, and Natural Resources. Through NGA’s committees, the governors examine and develop policy and address key state and national issues. Special task forces often are created to focus gubernatorial attention on federal legislation or on state-level issues.

The association works closely with the administration and Congress on state-federal policy issues through its offices in the Hall of the States in Washington, D.C. The association serves as a vehicle for sharing knowledge of innovative programs among the states and provides technical assistance and consultant services to Governors on a wide range of management and policy issues.

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 assistance to states. The center works in a number of policy fields, including agriculture and rural development, economic development, education, energy and environment, health, social services, technology, trade, transportation, and workforce development.