Green leads governors’ group, plans Hawaii meeting
A year-long emphasis on his Health Beyond Healthcare initiative will define Gov. Josh Green’s tenure as chair of the Western Governors’ Association.
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A year-long emphasis on his Health Beyond Healthcare initiative will define Gov. Josh Green’s tenure as chair of the Western Governors’ Association.
Green, who assumed the position Wednesday at the group’s meeting in Park City, Utah, will serve as host of its winter meeting on Oahu in December.
The Dec. 7 gathering, during commemorations of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, will include governors from 19 western states; member representatives from Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and governors from Japan.
U.S. governors in the association represent politically diverse states — from Hawaii, California and Oregon to more conservative-leaning Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska and Montana.
Most have never been to Hawaii, according to the organization’s spokesperson, Jack Spina.
Some are excited about the opportunity to meet representatives from Japan and throughout the Pacific at the Pearl Harbor ceremonies, Green told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in his Capitol office before leaving for Utah.
He said it was his idea to hold the annual meeting in Hawaii where “there will be leaders from Polynesia through the Pacific and there will be Japanese governors attending that week. The WGA guys are very happy about it because it opens up a whole new way for us to have dialogue with other nations.”
Green said he hopes that the December meeting will allow Republican and Democratic governors “to have a very open and safe space discussion about where America is after the midterm elections and how Hawaii can, from my perspective, be a mediator,” Green said. “That’s how I approach this job.”
The Pearl Harbor ceremonies are always emotional, Green said, and “could provide an incredible opportunity to talk a little about war and peace and relations.”
Green said he will continue to be an advocate on issues that affect red and blue states alike, such as rising healthcare costs, rural healthcare needs, cuts and changes to federal programs including SNAP, or food stamps, Medicaid, and the ongoing threats of wildfires and other natural disasters.
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Whether the governors represent red or blue states, Green said, “We all have to pay for hospitals.”
Other critical issues facing the governors are rural development, broadband connectivity, veterans’ affairs and “missing and murdered indigenous persons,” Green said.
In a statement Wednesday after he was named chair, Green said that he wants his Health Beyond Healthcare initiative to look at how housing, early intervention, education, workforce development, community connections and other factors influence mental health.
“Access to healthcare is one of the defining challenges facing the West,” Green said in a statement. “But health doesn’t begin in a doctor’s office. It begins where we live, learn, work, and play. Through this initiative, we have an opportunity to work together across state lines to improve access to care, strengthen our communities and advance practical, bipartisan solutions that improve lives.”
Green also has been touting legislative measures he signed into law as the first efforts of their kind in the country, including raising Hawaii’s Transient Accommodations Tax to help the state reduce the risk of future wildfires and other natural disasters, brace for climate change and educate visitors about protecting Hawaii’s fragile ecosystem.
Another state law regarded as groundbreaking requires corporations and nonprofit organizations created on the mainland to follow the same campaign donation laws that Hawaii entities must follow. The measure is Hawaii’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United that cleared the way for organizations to escalate their political activities to influence elections.
Green also continues to tout his homeless kauhale initiative to his colleagues in the Western Governors’ Association as a low-cost way to reduce homelessness and get help for kauhale residents.
“As governor of Hawaii, I wear it as a badge of honor to continue to innovate in a small state,” Green said. “Kauhale, Citizens United and climate impact — those are a big deal.”
In a statement Tuesday, the Western Governors’ Association’s outgoing chair — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox — said, “We’re all working to find common sense, practical solutions, and meetings like this give us an opportunity to do that, to learn from each other, to exchange ideas, to look for common ground, and to benefit from our collective experiences and wisdom.”
