Introducing the Disagree Better Initiative, at NGA’s Annual Meeting last summer, NGA Chair Utah Governor Spencer Cox told attendees: “Whatever your issue is, I’m here to tell you we cannot solve that issue if we remain as divided as we are today.” It’s just such a Governor thing to say, with a focus on bridging divisions in order to work together on solutions.
It is a sentiment we will hear often this week at NGA’s 2024 Winter Meeting, where Governors will come together to share, listen and learn from one another on issues from artificial intelligence to workforce development. There will certainly be cynics who, desperate to appear savvy, will claim this is just D.C. political posturing. In response we would like to offer remarks taken from just a handful of Governors’ 2024 State of the State Addresses, delivered far from the madding crowd of national politics–with the goal of delivering solutions.
In America, there is a lack of trust that is largely fueled by a political environment and media economy that rewards toxic conflict. But it is possible to Disagree Better. Bipartisanship is alive and well among America’s Governors, who work together across party lines all the time. While it may not get the clicks, it does get results.
