The nation’s governors gathered in Washington this week, arriving with practical priorities and initiatives. We only hope that federal officials were paying adequate attention.
President Bush, who’s slogging through his final two years of office and tilting at foreign windmills, knows from his experience in Texas that state policy ideas can be successfully replicated on the federal level.
States led by innovative governors have long acted as incubators for developing effective government. At a White House dinner Monday night, Bush pledged to work with the governors “to do a lot of good things.” He said, “I believe governors add a lot to the work of our nation.”
We agree, but he could have been a tad more specific.
Start with the global warming initiative, for example. As the National Governors Association (NGA) meeting convened, chief executives of five Western states announced they were banding together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – with or without help or action from Washington.
The bipartisan group, tired of waiting for the president to drop his hostility to global warming remedies, follows in the footsteps of some Northeastern states who lost patience with Washington many months ago. Gov. Bill Ritter has said he’ll look at the details of the Western pact, and we hope he finds the initiative will benefit Colorado.
The Western effort was part of an overall push this week among states to move forward on alternative energy strategies.
Some states are ignoring federal inaction to assure universal health coverage for residents of their states.
The governors need federal help in some arenas. They are seeking support for workforce training and education. According to the NGA, the states need tools to “encourage entrepreneurship, improve math and science education, better align post-secondary education systems with local economic growth, and develop regional innovation strategies.” In some cases, such as education, all they need is the federal government to give states some flexibility.
Yes, the states even feel compelled to act on the Iraq war. Governors expressed concerns about National Guard units stretched thin because of continuing deployments, and because equipment is removed for overseas duty and never returns. California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq and called on Congress and the White House to end its partisan squabbling over the war.
Governors shouldn’t have to solve our foreign policy problems, but that’s a pretty sensible idea.
