Governor heads to Washington to attend National Governors Association meeting

Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green is in Washington this week for the National Governors Association 2025 Winter Meeting.

While he’s in D.C., the governor will meet with federal officials and leaders from throughout the nation to foster bipartisan collaboration on critical policy issues affecting states and territories.

The governor on Wednesday is having a conversation with Pew Charitable Trusts that will cover a range of policies that can support community health and well-being, such as housing, fiscal stability, public health systems, disaster mitigation and more.

The “Building Healthy Communities” conversation is part of Pew’s efforts to work with states on developign data-driven, pragmatic solutions to a wide range of complex challenges.

Green is committed to caring for Hawaiʻi’s families. He worked as a physician in Ka’u on the Big Island before he was first elected to public office in 2004 and continued to practice emergency room medicine throughout his tenure in the Hawaiʻi Legislature, which included serving first as a state representative and then as a state senator.

He was named Physician of the Year by the Hawai‘i Medical Association twice, most recently in 2022.   

Green was elected as lieutenant governor in 2018 and became governor in 2022.

“In his role as governor, Green has pursued an ambitious agenda, continuing his focus on caring for people,” said Pew in an announcement of their upcoming conversation.

The charitable organization said he has achieved that by creating safe and affordable housing options for Hawaiʻi residents, reducing homelessness and implementing strategies to retain critical health care workers to address a shortage of staff in the health care industry.

Green has prioritized improving public health and housing access throughout his career.

He focused on health care as a state legislator, including providing health insurance for every child in the state, and spearheaded the state’s COVID-19 response as lieutenant governor.

Green will return to Hawaiʻi on Feb. 23.

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke is serving as acting governor while he is out of state.