 |
|
|
| CSG-WEST | Border Legislative Conference |
|
|
|
|
| What
is the Border
Legislative Conference? |
| The Border
Legislative Conference (BLC) is a program administered by the Council of
State Governments (CSG)-WEST and its regional partner in the
South, the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC), that serves as a
mechanism for on-going dialogue and collaboration among state
legislators of the United States and Mexico. The goal of the project is
to empower border state legislators to engage in the binational agenda
and provide input and direction in the development of policy between
both countries. The BLC fosters the development
of shared solutions along the border region through joint consideration
of common problems and
exchange of information. The
BLC also seeks to establish efficient and strategic collaborative
efforts with multi level governments and non-governmental organizations
to the end that border communities and state governments on both sides
of the border may be strengthened and improved. Membership in the BLC is
comprised of legislators from the ten states along the U.S.-Mexico
border. These states
include California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas on the U.S. side, and
Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas
on the Mexican side. The staff of CSG-WEST
and the SLC provide the administrative support of the program, including
the coordination and organization of forums, preparation of
recommendations and analysis, and the implementation of policies and
actions as directed by participating legislators.
Program staff consists of a program manager, a bilingual staff
assistant and support staff from CSG’s Western, Southern and
Washington, D.C. offices. Financial support of the program is provided by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). For more information about the BLC, please contact Edgar Ruiz, Program Manager of the Border Legislative Conference, at (916) 553-4423 or by e-mail at eruiz@csg.org |
