Governor Rendell Unveils New NGA Chair's Initiative at Closing Plenary Session

PHILADELPHIA—Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty today officially turned over the reins of the National Governors Association (NGA) to Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell during the closing plenary session of the NGA's Centennial Meeting.

"It's been an honor serving as Chair of NGA during its Centennial, and I'm extremely proud of the work we've done this past year, specifically governors' efforts to secure a clean energy future for America ," said Gov. Pawlenty. "But all good things must come to an end, and it's my privilege to hand the gavel of NGA leadership over to my distinguished colleague Governor Rendell."

"Governor Pawlenty deserves a tremendous amount of credit for helping make America 's energy future a cleaner energy future," said newly minted NGA Chair Gov. Rendell. "Another significant challenge our country faces is the rebuilding of its infrastructure, and over the coming year I'm going to make this American challenge the focus of my NGA Chair's Initiative."

For the past two decades, state and local governments have been picking up more of the tab for infrastructure repair, now accounting for approximately 75 percent of all infrastructure work. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates the national infrastructure needs more than $1.6 trillion dollars over the next five years to maintain its current status.

"If we are to fully meet this challenge we will need our federal partners to step up and make this a greater priority," Gov. Rendell concluded.

Gov. Rendell's Chair's Initiative will work with other states to design and implement strategies for smarter, more cost-effective infrastructure investments, including roads, bridges, ports and public transportation. Additionally, states will be challenged to align their infrastructure investments with the new realities of climate change.

NGA Chair's Initiatives focus the attention and resources of the association toward addressing one of the nation's most pressing public policy challenges. By performing cutting-edge research, forming groundbreaking public-private partnerships, recruiting globally recognized experts as part of national policymaker summits, and producing informative publications, NGA Chair's Initiatives seek to raise awareness of critical challenges facing the country and provide governors the tools and knowledge to combat these challenges head on. Recent NGA Chair's Initiatives have focused on securing a clean energy future, redesigning the American high school, encouraging citizens to lead healthier, more active lives and enhancing the innovation capacity of the United States .

During the closing plenary session, governors heard from to Dr. Richard Lester, Director, Industrial Performance Center and Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lester discussed his observations on the most promising clean energy technologies, the ways industrial policy can help advance these technologies and the role states can play in moving the country towards a cleaner energy future.

The session closed with governors hearing final thoughts on NGA committee reports and taking up consideration of proposed NGA policies. The nation's governors will reconvene in Washington , D.C. on February 21-23 for the 2009 NGA Winter Meeting. For more information, visit www.nga.org.

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Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation's governors and one of Washington , D.C. 's, most respected public policy organizations. Its members are the governors of the 50 states, three territories and two commonwealths. NGA provides governors and their senior staff members with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing and implementing innovative solutions to public policy challenges through the NGA Center for Best Practices. For more information, visit www.nga.org.