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This bipartisan cooperation extends beyond the work among fellow Western Governors, but with local and federal partners throughout the region and in Washington, DC. There was no better example of this in 2025 than when WGA’s Vice Chair, Hawai’i Governor Josh Green, discussed health care policies with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at WGA’s 2025 Winter Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.  

“You just saw something important,” Governor Green said in his closing remarks, “which is to say, people who have disagreed very deeply can work together and need to work together.” 

This moment of bipartisan cooperation and strengthening the state-federal relationship, however, was far from unique for Western Governors this year.  

At WGA’s 2025 Annual Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Western Governors held public policy discussions with five U.S. Cabinet members and senior federal leaders, including Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum (who also participated in the 2025 Winter Meeting), Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. These conversations weren’t about scoring points—they were about solving problems, sharing what’s working in western states, and identifying where the state-federal partnership can make the biggest difference. 

Western Governors also advanced their shared priorities by updating nine of WGA’s bipartisan policy resolutions. Together, these resolutions outline the West’s unified positions on: mineral production; radioactive materials management; biosecurity and invasive species; recreation and tourism on public lands; federal-state land exchanges and conveyances; states’ share of royalties and leasing revenues from federal lands and minerals; tax-exempt federal lands and secure rural schools; housing; and disaster preparedness and response.   

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham also released the special report of her 2025 WGA Chair initiative, Building Resilient and Affordable New Developments in the West, also known as BRAND West. The report contains case studies that highlight effective state-led strategies for addressing the housing crisis, along with federal policy recommendations to bolster those efforts.  

Armed with the Governors’ bipartisan policies and recommendations, WGA staff elevated western priorities on Capitol Hill by making regular trips to Washington, D.C., where they met with members of Congress and the Administration. That advocacy helped fully authorize the Secure Rural Schools program, deploy millions of dollars in western states for broadband expansion through the BEAD Program, and lead to the finalization of the Bureau of Land Management’s greater sage-grouse land use plans across the West – plans developed in close partnership with Western Governors and state wildlife managers via the Task Force on Collaborative Conservation.  

Looking ahead to 2026, WGA is committed to building on this momentum with its federal partners – especially on two priorities that have consistently risen to the top for Western states: permitting reform (including the SPEED Act) and increasing housing supply (including the ROAD to Housing Act). 

WGA’s current fiscal year will also conclude Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s WGA Chair initiative, Energy Superabundance: Unlocking Prosperity in the West, which he launched last June to examine challenges and opportunities for expanding production, transmission, and storage options across the energy spectrum.  

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, and Idaho Governor Brad Little have already hosted Energy Superabundance workshops in their respective states. In February, WGA will launch an Energy Superabundance webinar series and convene a final in-person workshop in Utah (dates coming soon). Ultimately, the initiative’s final report will be released during WGA’s 2026 Annual Meeting at the Stein Erikson Lodge in Deer Valley, Utah. At that meeting, Governor Cox will hand over the reins as Chair of WGA to Governor Green, which, of course, means WGA’s 2026 Winter Meeting will be hosted in Hawai’i later this calendar year – another western destination you’ll surely not want to miss!  

Until then, there is a lot of work to do – but before I go, I’d like to extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to  Western Governors for another year of inspiring leadership. I would also like to thank our WGA team for their outstanding work and dedication to this organization, as well as our sponsor community and the many partners who continue to support WGA and its mission. None of this work is possible without you, and we look forward to tackling the challenges that lie ahead together. 

Thanks for a fantastic 2025, and here’s to a productive and successful 2026!

           Jack Waldorf