NGA Center for Best Practices

The NGA Center for Best Practices teams and divisions develop innovative solutions to today’s most pressing public policy challenges. The center is the only research and development firm that directly serves the nation’s Governors.

Latest

At Disagree Better Event, National Security Experts Warn of the Dangers of Toxic Polarization

At Disagree Better Event, National Security Experts Warn of the Dangers of Toxic Polarization

Americans are all too familiar with the impact of toxic polarization in settings from home to work to Congress. Whether it’s tense conversations at the dinner table or gridlock on ...
State and Territory Leaders Meet for the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce Summit

State and Territory Leaders Meet for the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce Summit

The 2023 National Governors Association Healthcare Workforce Summit was held in Broomfield, Colorado, August 21-23, 2023. The summit brought together leaders from 18 states and territories that are part of ...
Bridging Partisan Divides by Repairing American Institutions

Bridging Partisan Divides by Repairing American Institutions

Through his Chair’s Initiative: Disagree Better, National Governors Association Chair Utah Governor Spencer Cox aims to elevate solutions to toxic polarization. At a convening in New Hampshire, Governor Cox welcomed ...
Governors Recognize Suicide Prevention Month  

Governors Recognize Suicide Prevention Month  

Suicide is a leading cause of death and claimed the lives of nearly 50,000 individuals in 2022, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ...

Disagree Better

Americans need to disagree better. And by that we don’t mean that we need to be nicer to each other, although that’s helpful. We need to learn to disagree in a way that allows us to find solutions and solve problems instead of endlessly bickering.

The “exhausted majority” of Americans want this, and the science is clear about interventions that reduce polarization. As doers and builders, Governors are in a unique position to model what healthy conflict looks like.

Governor Spencer Cox’s Disagree Better NGA Chair’s initiative will look at the problems of polarization, elevate the solutions that groups around the country are already implementing, and feature Governors showing what disagreeing better looks like. Through public debates, service projects, public service announcements and a variety of other tactics, Americans will see a more positive and optimistic way of working through our problems.

Program Areas


Center for Best Practices Library

NGA Center Influenza Resources

Preparing for a Pandemic Influenza: A Primer for Governors and Senior State Officials Sustaining the State Workforce: Strategies for Effective ...

Small Business Initiatives for Health Coverage and Disease Prevention

Small businesses create a majority of new jobs in the country and make significant contributions to the nation’s economic viability ...
Arts & the Economy: Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development

Arts & the Economy: Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development

Through the creative industries, states have an opportunity to create jobs, attract investments, generate tax revenues, and stimulate local economies ...
Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Update: States Increase Eligibility for Children’s Health in 2007

Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Update: States Increase Eligibility for Children’s Health in 2007

Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provide a critical source of health insurance coverage to low-income pregnant ...
Promoting Film and Media to Enhance State Economic Development

Promoting Film and Media to Enhance State Economic Development

Film and media arts can play a key role in state economic development. As economic impact studies continue to demonstrate ...
State Efforts to Expand Broadband Access

State Efforts to Expand Broadband Access

This Issue Brief reviews state efforts to expand broadband access by offering examples of implementation strategies. In addition, we highlight ...
State Efforts to Promote Reading and Literary Activities in Communities

State Efforts to Promote Reading and Literary Activities in Communities

Policies and programs that support reading can help create a culture of reading and community action. By promoting literary reading, ...
Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Update 2005: States Make Modest Expansions to Health Care Coverage

Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Update 2005: States Make Modest Expansions to Health Care Coverage

Medicaid continues to be the nation’s largest health insurance program for low-income people. This report examines some of the policies ...
MCH Update: States Protect Health Care Coverage During Recent Fiscal Downturn

MCH Update: States Protect Health Care Coverage During Recent Fiscal Downturn

Medicaid is the nation’s largest health insurance program for low-income persons. The data in this report show state efforts around ...
MCH Update 2002: State Health Coverage for Low-Income Pregnant Women, Children, and Parents

MCH Update 2002: State Health Coverage for Low-Income Pregnant Women, Children, and Parents

Since 1990, the NGA Center has reported on the status of state Medicaid coverage of children and pregnant women and ...
MCH Update 2001: Trends in State Health Insurance Coverage of Pregnant Women, Children, and Parents

MCH Update 2001: Trends in State Health Insurance Coverage of Pregnant Women, Children, and Parents

Since 1990, the NGA Center has reported on the status of state Medicaid coverage of children and pregnant women and ...
Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Update: States Have Expanded Eligibility and Increased Access to Health Care for Pregnant Women and Children

Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Update: States Have Expanded Eligibility and Increased Access to Health Care for Pregnant Women and Children

In January 2001, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) announced that more than 3.3 million previously uninsured children now have ...

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