Here’s the release from the Western Governors’ Association:
Western Governors formally approved four policy resolutions at the Western Governors’ Association 2018 Winter Meeting in Hawaii: Foreign Visitor Preclearance; Cybersecurity; Compensatory Mitigation; and Health Care in Western States.
WGA Policy Resolution 2019-01 Foreign Visitor Preclearance: In 2016, Western Governors adopted Policy Resolution 2016-02 Foreign Visitor Preclearance. It noted Governors’ support for expanded use of air preclearance operations at foreign airports to streamline legitimate international travel, further protect the safety and security of American citizens and international travelers, and ease burdens placed on small or rural airports that accept a significant number of international travelers. The updated resolution includes updated estimates of airport wait times and locations where preclearance agreements are in place. Read, download the resolution.
Policy Resolution 2019-02, Cybersecurity: The cybersecurity of their states and the nation is a high priority for Western Governors. In this new resolution, Western Governors encourage Congress and the Administration to fully fund state election security measures and to work cooperatively with states in developing election security legislation. The resolution also provides recommendations for increasing the cybersecurity workforce, addressing supply chain issues, improving cross-agency and cross-sector coordination, discouraging cyber intrusions of nation-state actors, incentivizing information-sharing and innovation, and preparing for attacks through real-world simulations. Read, download the resolution.
Policy Resolution 2019-03, Compensatory Mitigation: Mitigation plays an important role in wildlife management and conservation, and Western Governors utilize mitigation programs and policies in developing and executing species conservation strategies. In this new resolution, Western Governors call on federal agencies to adopt and implement state-supported compensatory mitigation programs and policies. This resolution also notes that mitigation of development impacts to habitat or natural resources must account for a level of risk and uncertainty that compensatory mitigation actions may fail to adequately offset adverse impacts to fish, wildlife and habitat and proposes several objectives to guide development of federal mitigation policy. Read, download the resolution.
Policy Resolution 2019-04, Health Care in Western States: Access to quality health care services is an important factor in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in western states. This new resolution identifies health care challenges affecting western states, including health industry personnel shortages and access to behavioral health and substance use disorder services. It also outlines the Governors’ policy to address these challenges, including the deployment of broadband to promote telehealth and telemedicine access, and the importance of strong state-federal collaboration to ensure that all layers of government are working in the best interests of the West’s citizens. Read, download the resolution.
Western Governors enact new policy resolutions and amend existing resolutions on a bi-annual basis. All of WGA’s current resolutions can be found on our Resolutions Page.