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Show Baelroimd Info Ojffered on. WESTPO The Western Governors-Policy Governors-Policy Office (WESTPO) is an independent organization of governors of eleven, inter-mountain and high plains states: Alaska, Ari- y zona. Colorado, Montana. Nebraska. Nevada. New Mexico, North Dakota. South Dakota. Utah, and Wyoming. Wyom-ing. WESTPO, a non-profi: instrumentality of the states. was established to strengthen streng-then the policymaking and J. management capacity of the member states and their role in the federal system. The Western .Governors' Policy Office (WESTPO) developed out of the work of the Western Governors' Task Force on Regional Policy Management. The. Task Force, established by ; the governors in July 1976 at the Hershey. Pennsylvania, meeting of the National Governors' Association (NGA). was directed to examine ; problems associat-- associat-- ed with the proliferation of regional organizations "(rising "(ris-ing costs, fragmentation, decayed lines of accountability, accountabil-ity, and increased dependency dependen-cy on the Federal government). govern-ment). The Task Force was also asked to develop recommendations recom-mendations to assist governors govern-ors jo strengthen the policy management capacity of state : governmentrparticu-larly governmentrparticu-larly state government relationships rela-tionships with the Federal government and with multi-state multi-state institutions in the Western region. In September 1977. during the annual meeting of the Western governors in Anchorage. Anch-orage. Alaska, ten governors created the Western Governors' Gover-nors' Policy Office (WESTPO) (WEST-PO) and subsequently approved app-roved the affiliation of the WESTPO Institute for Policy Research (IPR). Both WESTPO WEST-PO and the Institute are located in Denver, Colorado, adjacent to Stapleton International Inter-national Airport. As part of its policy - management responsibili- ties, WESTPO serves as a regional forum and provides .t a, mechanism for member governors to address and influence important national, -regional, inter-state, and federal-state issues. .The governors are assisted in this i regional policy and program development activity by their executive assistants who together, constitute the WESTPO Regional Coordin- i ating Council (RCC), , The governors and the RCC are assisted by the work -of staff advisorv committees (SACs). compoased of i key ; state personnel k in energy. natural resources, water. and . other functional areas. ? ' Work in each functional area is driven by "lead" governors govern-ors appointed bv the WESTPO '"' . governor-chairman.:. Staff support to the governors, gover-nors, the RCC. and the SACs is provided by the WESTPO staff, by Institute staff, by state personnel, by interns and others- on temporary duty assignment, and by staff associated wifh other western multistate regional organizations. including the Western States Water Council Coun-cil (WSWC). and the Western West-ern Interstate Energy Board (WIEBWINB). Representatives Representa-tives of the non-governmental sector may", also be consulted in the development develop-ment of WESTPO policy and program recommendations. WESTPO, in short, serves member governors by providing provi-ding a vehicle for collective political expression and influence, in-fluence, an important asset . for the sparsely populated Western states. It also serves as an instrument for policy management: identi-fyingand identi-fyingand dealing with issues that crosscut functional areas: are-as: promoting institutional accountability by facilitating the exchange of views with non-governmental sectors; and promoting the more effective use of existing regional resources and institutions. |