National Governors Association Center For Best Practices

TO PROVIDE TAILORED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR CHALLENGED FACING THE STATES, IDENTIFY AND SHARE BEST PRACTICES, AND SERVE AS AN INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE ON GUBERNATORIAL INITIATIVES.

THIS REPORTING PERIOD WAS PRODUCTIVE FOR THE NGA CENTER FOR BEST PRACTICES (NGA CENTER). TOP AMONG OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS WAS AN ONGOING RESPONSE EFFORT TO AID GOVERNORS ADDRESSING THE EMERGENCY PHASE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. ADDITIONALLY, THE NGA CENTER SUPPORTED GOVERNORS AS THEY PREPARED FOR A LIKELY ONCE IN A GENERATION INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDOUT; CONTINUED WORK IN ENERGY, TRANSPORTATION, AND OUTDOOR RECREATION; SUCCESSFULLY SUPPORTED GOVERNORS AS THEY ADDRESSED WORKFORCE AND ECONOMIC DE VELOPMENT CHALLENGES; AND SUPPORTED GOVERNORS AS THEY MADE ONCE IN A CENTURY DECISIONS AROUND K-12 EDUCATION NATIONWIDE. THROUGHOUT 2021, THE NGA CENTER CONTINUED TO SUPPORT GOVERNORS AND THEIR STAFFS AS THEY RESPONDED TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC EMERGENCY. THE WORK DURING THIS TIME PERIOD FOCUSED ON ASSISTING WITH VACCINATION PLANNING AND EFFORTS, ADDRESSING THE UNWINDING OF THE EMERGENCY PHASE OF COVID-19 AND HELPING STATES PLAN FOR FUTURE WAVES AND INNOVATIVE TREATMENTS. THIS INCLUDED WORKING CLOSELY WITH GOVERNORS' HEALTH POLICY ADVISORS, LEGAL COUNSEL AND GOVERNORS' COVID-19 RESPONSE LEADERS. DURING THIS TIME THE NGA CENTER ALSO WORKED CLOSELY WITH ACADEMIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR THOUGHT-LEADERS TO PROVIDE THE MOST TIMELY AND RELEVANT INFORMATION TO GOVERNORS AS THEY WERE ADJUSTING TO THE DYNAMIC PANDEMIC. IN ADDITION TO OUR CORE PUBLIC HEALTH PANDEMIC RESPONSE WORK, THE NGA CENTER CONTINUED TO SUPPORT A NEW WORKSTREAM WITH GOVERNORS' LEGAL COUNSEL. THROUGHOUT THIS REPORTING PERIOD WRITTEN AND ORAL BRIEFINGS ON A SUITE OF COVID AND NON-COVID RELATED LEGAL MATTERS, INCLUDING UPDATES TO THE FEDERAL COURT DOCKETS THAT MAY IMPACT STATES. THIS WORK ALSO INCLUDED MAINTAINING NUMEROUS COVID RESPONSE POLICY TRACKERS, INCLUDING TRACKING THE STATUS OF PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS IN ALL FIFTY-FIVE STATES AND TERRITORIES. IN NON-COVID WORK, THE NGA CENTER ALSO FOCUSED TIME AND ATTENTION ON GETTING GOVERNORS AND THEIR STAFF'S PREPARED FOR A POTENTIAL FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE (THAT WAS SIGNED INTO LAW AFTER THIS REPORTING PERIOD). THIS INCLUDED WORKING CLOSELY WITH GOVERNORS' TRANSPORTATION, BROADBAND AND ENERGY ADVISORS TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY WERE APPROACHING EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY GAPS, HOW THEY WOULD UTILIZE FUTURE FEDERAL FUNDS, WHAT THEY WERE CURRENTLY FOCUSED ON, AND WHAT CHALLENGES THEY ANTICIPATED FROM A POTENTIAL FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE. THIS WORK WAS LED BY A NEW TEAM AT THE NGA CENTER, HOWEVER, WAS A CROSS CUTTING OPERATION ACROSS ALL OF OUR EXISTING POLICY TEAMS. THE NGA CENTER'S K-12 EDUCATION TEAM CONTINUED TO SUPPORT GOVERNORS AND THEIR STAFFS AS THEY WORKED TO SAFELY REOPEN SCHOOLS, EXPAND THE AVAILABILITY OF HIGH-QUALITY VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS, ASSESS AND ADDRESS LEARNING LOSS, AND CONTEMPLATE THE CHALLENGES IN YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH AND EMOTIONAL WELL BEING BROUGH UPON BY THE PANDEMIC. THIS WORK INCLUDED HOSTING ROUTINE WRITTEN AND ORAL BRIEFINGS FOR GOVERNORS' EDUCATION POLICY ADVISORS, INCLUDING NUMEROUS BRIEFINGS IN CONCERT WITH OUR PUBLIC HEALTH TEAM. FINALLY, DURING THIS REPORTING PERIOD THE TEAM UNDERTOOK SIGNIFICANT PREPARATION FOR A LONGER-TERM PROJECT ADDRESSING THE MENTAL HEALTH IMPACTS AND CHALLENGES FACING STUDENTS AS THEY RESTART THEIR IN-PERSON EDUCATION. THE NGA CENTER CONTINUED TO ACTIVELY SUPPORT GOVERNORS AS THEY ADJUSTED THEIR WORKFORCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICIES TO MEET THE CHALLENGES BROUGHT ON BY COVID AND AN INCREASINGLY DISTRIBUTED WORKFORCE. THIS INCLUDED TRACKING AND DISSEMINATING UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT THE ECONOMIC AND LABOR MARKET SITUATION, WHILE ALSO WORKING CLOSELY WITH GOVERNORS' WORKFORCE BOARDS AND CHAIRS TO UNDERSTAND THE STATE-BY-STATE CHALLENGES AND INNOVATIONS. DURING THIS TIME WE HOSTED NUMEROUS VIRTUAL BRIEFINGS FOR GOVERNORS' STAFF, PUBLISHED REPORTS ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND MONITORED THE PANDEMIC IMPACTS ON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. FINALLY, OUR TEAM CONTINUED TO FOCUS ON SUPPORTING GOVERNORS AND THEIR STAFFS AS THEY ADDRESS ONGOING CHALLENGES RELATED TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE DISORDER. FOR THIS REPORTING PERIOD OUR TEAM DEVOTED SIGNIFICANT ATTENTION TO TRENDS IN NARCOTICS USE AND ADDICTION WERE CHANGING AND HOW THE SUPPLY OF NARCOTICS WAS CHANGING THE SCOPE OF THE ADDICTION CRISIS. THE WORK OF SUPPORTING GOVERNORS ON DRUG AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER POLICY DATES BACK NEARLY A DECADE AND HAS EVOLVED AS THE CRISIS HAS MOVED FROM PRESCRIPTION DRUGS TO HEROIN TO FENTANYL TO STIMULANTS AND POLYSUBSTANCE ABUSE. THE MOST RECENT EVOLUTION INCLUDED THE INCREASED PREVALENCE OF STIMULANTS AND THEIR USE WITH OPIOID-BASED PRODUCTS, WITH THESE CHANGES OUR TEAM WORKED WITH GOVERNORS OFFICES TO HELP EVOLVE EXISTING DRUG POLICY TO MEET THE NEW CHALLENGES.