Programs and Projects 

 

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.

 

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.

·   The U.S. – Mexico State Alliance Partnership is a collaborative, multi-branch alliance comprising the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Council of State Governments (CSG) and its Western and Southern regional offices, Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), National Association of State Treasurers (NAST), and other officials aimed at strengthening cooperation among state officials and institutions of the United States and Mexico.  The Alliance Partnership promotes and convenes binational exchanges and workshops among border legislators, attorneys general and treasurers that enhance the role of state officials in addressing shared public policy concerns that transcend international borders. 

·   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.