The National Governors Association’s 2022 Annual Summer Meeting was held was July 13-15, 2022, in Portland, Maine. Governors met to collaborate on bipartisan solutions to leading policy issues including computer science education/cybersecurity, economic recovery, infrastructure and youth mental health care.
NGA Chairman Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson led an opening plenary session Thursday, July 14, on his NGA Chairman’s Initiative, K-12 Computer Science Education. A second plenary session the same day focused on the recovery of travel and tourism economic activity. On Friday, July 15, Dolly Parton made a virtual appearance to join Governors in a discussion of early childhood literacy efforts, including Parton’s Imagination Library.
In the final plenary session Friday, July 15, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was elected Chair of the NGA. Governor Murphy announced his Chair’s Initiative, Strengthening Youth Mental Health, to bring together policy experts, public officials and private sector leaders to take a holistic approach to the youth mental health crisis. New Jersey First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy also introduced her initiative to create a national model to help address the maternal and infant health crisis in the United States. Utah Governor Spencer Cox was elected the NGA Vice Chair, with a role overseeing the NGA Center for Best Practices, the only research and development office directly serving the nation’s Governors.
