Governors Taking Part in Winter Meeting on Big Island

The public is welcome to register and attend the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) 2018 Winter Meeting that will be happening on the Big Island of Hawai‘i on Tuesday through Wednesday, Dec. 11, through 13, 2018, at the Fairmont Orchid.

Twelve Western Governors will take part in public conversations about significant issues facing the region at the event hosted by WGA Chair and Hawai‘i Gov. David Ige. The Governors will hear keynotes and have onstage conversations with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie and Administrator Linda McMahon of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Governors joining Gov. Ige include: WGA Vice Chair Doug Burgum (North Dakota), C.L. “Butch” Otter (Idaho), Steve Bullock (Montana), Brian Sandoval (Nevada), Mary Fallin (Oklahoma), Kate Brown (Oregon), Dennis Daugaard (South Dakota), Gary Herbert (Utah), Matt Mead (Wyoming), Lolo Matalasi Moliga (American Samoa) and Ralph Torres (Northern Mariana Islands).

Gov. Ige will lead his fellow Western Governors in public discussions on significant issues facing the West, including the Chair’s Initiative on Biosecurity and Invasive Species.

Additional keynotes will be presented by Nainoa Thompson, President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and Henk Rogers of Blue Planet Energy. Public roundtable discussions will feature the Governors discussing issues such as renewable energy, the outdoor recreation economy, healthcare, and veterans’ employment issues.

The event kicks off at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11 with an All-Governors Press Conference, at which time they will be available for a group photo. The meeting’s public sessions start at 1 p.m. on Tuesday and continue Wednesday and Thursday mornings. To view the agenda, go online.

For more information or to register, go online.

The Western Governors’ Association was established in 1984 to represent the Governors of 19 Western states and 3 U.S. territories in the Pacific. The association is an instrument of the Governors for bipartisan policy development, information exchange and collective action on issues of critical importance to the Western United States.