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“One of the things that always gives me hope as I talk about our country is that every time I have the opportunity to be together with my fellow Governors – some red, some blue, some purple – we come together in a bipartisan spirit,” WGA’s Chair and the host of the 2026 Annual Meeting, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, said.  “We had a dinner last night, and I wish that America could have been there.  What you would have seen is dear friends having a great time talking about hard issues… When we take time to talk to each other and get to know each other better, we find that we all face the same challenges, we're all working to find common-sense, practical solutions, and meetings like this give us an opportunity to do that – to learn from each other, to exchange ideas, to look for common ground, and to benefit from our collective experiences and wisdom.”  

This spirit of bipartisanship carried through to the many in-depth policy discussions that the Governors led at this year’s Annual Meeting.  

For these discussions, Governor Cox was joined by WGA’s Vice Chair, Hawai’i Governor Josh Green, as well as Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.    

The meeting began with Governor Cox releasing a report culminating his WGA Chair initiative, Energy Superabundance: Unlocking Prosperity in the West.  The report summarizes the key issues that were explored during the initiative workshops in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah and presents federal policy recommendations developed from those discussions to help plan, finance, develop, and deploy energy projects across the West. 

Immediately following the release of the report, the Governors hosted a panel discussion to examine the report’s recommendations with experts from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Dominance Financing, the Idaho National Laboratory, the Western Transmission Expansion Coalition (WestTEC), and Fervo Energy.   

“We live in an age of miracles, and every one of those miracles needs an electron,” Governor Cox said during the panel.  “Because when an electron touches a hospital, lives are saved. When an electron touches a school, ideas come to fruition, and wisdom is learned.  When an electron touches a home, families flourish.  By definition, we have to work together if we're going to get those electrons where they need to go, and if we're going to lower prices for the people who call our states home and make life easier and more abundant so that human flourishing can actually happen at levels that we've never experienced before.” 

Next up was a keynote address from U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz, who emphasized the urgent need for active, collaborative forest management as the West faces an increasingly severe wildfire season.  He honored three firefighters killed in a recent Colorado burnover, outlined the agency’s progress on agency hiring and hazardous-fuels treatments, and stressed that wildfire risks, forest health, watersheds, recreation, rural economies, and energy development all cross jurisdictional boundaries.  

Building upon his keynote, Chief Schultz joined panelists from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and the National Wild Turkey Federation for a discussion about how Shared Stewardship agreements are redefining land management and fire mitigation to the benefit of our states and the federal government. 

That evening, the Governors were joined by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Guy Parmelin, who spoke about the close ties between Switzerland and western states and the great opportunities that exist to strengthen ties between our two countries.  The Governors also heard from the Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, about the some of the challenges facing the United States and the important role Governors have in protecting our national security. 

Day two of WGA’s Annual Meeting featured panels on protecting state technology ecosystems from foreign influence, FEMA reform, and student literacy, the latter of which was led by Utah First Lady Spencer Cox.  

“None of the biggest problems that we need to solve are going to be solved if we do not look towards the next generation and make sure that our kiddos have what they need to be successful,” First Lady Cox said.  “And that means literacy,”    

The meeting concluded with Governor Cox handing the reins as the Chair of WGA to Governor Green.  

“It's just with extreme gratitude that I get to participate with these great people and all of you,” Governor Green said.  “We genuinely love this work, as you can tell, and we look forward to doing it with you in the coming months and many years ahead.” 

As the newly elected Chair, Governor Green announced the launch of his WGA Chair initiative, Health Beyond Healthcare, which will focus on improving mental health outcomes by expanding access to care while addressing the broader factors that shape health and well-being. 

"Access to healthcare is one of the defining challenges facing the West," said Governor Green. "But health doesn't begin in a doctor’s office.  It begins where we live, learn, work, and play.  Through this initiative, we have an opportunity to work together across state lines to improve access to care, strengthen our communities and advance practical, bipartisan solutions that improve lives.”  

To learn more about the Health Beyond Healthcare initiative and get involved, visit WGA’s website.  

Thank you all for your support.  We’ll see you in Hawaiʻi for WGA’s 2026 Winter Meeting on December 9 –12! 

Happy 250th, America!