National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is a bipartisan organization of the nation’s governors. NGA has a system of rotating chairs of NGA. When the Chair is a Democrat then the Vice Chr. is a Republican and vice versa. The chair and vice chair each serve for one year in their positions, with the vice chair becoming chair at the conclusion of the chairs term. Gov. Leavitt served as vice chair to Gov. Carper (D-Delaware) from 1998-1999 and was named chair when Gov. Carper’s term concluded in August 1999. He served as chair from August 1999 to July 2000. Gov. Paris Glendening (D-Md.) served as vice chair with Leavitt. As Chairman, Leavitt focused on “Strengthening the American State in the New Global Economy”. A new NGA task force was created, “State Strategies for the New Economy”. Throughout the course of the year, papers created from the Task Force were released by Governors in their states. They were available on line and were widely read. The annual winter meeting was one of the highlights of Leavitt’s chairmanship. The plenary session with Thomas Friedman, the New York Times foreign affairs columnist, was one the most interesting and interactive sessions NGA has (more…)
