Programs
·
As
it has for 61 years, the Western
Legislative
Conference
(WLC) brings together members from the 13 Western state
legislatures to discuss issues of common regional concern such
as water, public lands, fiscal affairs, energy, trade and
transportation. The WLC committees
convenes at the CSG-WEST
annual
meeting, which also offers training and professional
development opportunities for all legislators.
· The
Western
Legislative Academy (WLA) is an
annual training program designed to help newer legislators
become more effective and to strengthen the state
legislative
institutions of the West. The WLA emphasizes the skills needed
for effective lawmaking, builds support for the legislature as
an institution and gives legislators from different states the
opportunity to learn from each other.
· WESTRENDS
is
a board, composed
with a seat from every Western State, that examines the
implications of demographic, economic and cultural trends that
shape the West.
·
The Legislative
Service Agency and Research Directors Committee
is
made up of leaders of the professional, nonpartisan staff of
Western legislatures with its goal to develop and share
practices that result in the best possible customer service to
lawmakers.
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Projects
·
Pursuing cooperative
solutions to issues that arise along the 2000-mile U.S.-Mexican
border is the focus of the Border
Legislative Conference, which is composed
of state legislators from California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas
and the six Mexican border states.
·
CSG-WEST provides
administrative support to the Legislative
Council on River Governance, a cooperative
association of legislators from the states of Washington,
Oregon, Idaho and Montana,
who review environmental and energy issues in the Columbia River Basins.
· Extensive
federal land ownership hinders the ability of western
states to fund education through local private property taxes.
The
Action
Plan for Public Lands and Education (APPLE) seeks
just compensation on behalf of schools in Western states. Nearly
52 percent of the 13 Western states is owned by the federal
government. That makes the West unique and is both a burden and
a blessing for the states. Proposed by the State of Utah and
adopted by the CSG-WEST Executive Committee in 2002, the resolution has been
endorsed by nine Western state legislatures. Resolution
Urging the United States Congress to Compensate Western States
for the Impact of Federal Land Ownership on State Education
Funding
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