By Scott Pattison
Leadership starts at the top. And Missouri is fortunate to have a chief executive in Governor Eric Greitens who knows what it means to lead.
I have the extraordinary opportunity as CEO of the National Governors Association (NGA) to work with governors of both parties who, like Gov. Greitens, are focused on finding solutions to their state’s problems now rather than kicking the can down the road like so many politicians in Washington.
I’ve seen firsthand the wealth of experience our nation’s governors bring to the job, whether it’s their military service, business accomplishments or humanitarian efforts helping those less fortunate. Their diverse backgrounds give them an appreciation for representing all constituents, not just those of a particular political party.
If only Washington were the same.
At the state level, our country’s governors identify threats, create strategic plans to tackle them and implement strategies to ensure successful outcomes. Governors address real and serious challenges, such as dealing with tornadoes, ice storms, and critical issues like cybersecurity threats, public safety, jobs for veterans and criminal justice reform.
Simply put, governors don’t have the luxury of passing the buck or allowing political grandstanding to interfere with their job because, at the end of the day, they are running the state. Their citizens hold them accountable for finishing the job—or not. Federal legislators don’t always focus on completing the task. After all, they don’t actually have to run something.
At NGA, we bring governors together to share ideas, best practices, solutions and management tips from the states, and to analyze what’s working and what’s not. This means that governors reach across the aisle to learn from their colleagues in other states about ways they can execute policy decisions that will benefit their citizens. They love sharing each other’s ideas!
Governors’ willingness to collaborate with each other is a major advantage states have over the federal government—and we are all stronger for it.
It should come as no surprise that governors are committed to enacting policies that keep their states safe. Here in Missouri, Gov. Greitens brings a distinguished record of military service and is putting that knowledge to use in his role as vice chair of the NGA Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. In that role, he has the chance to work not only with governors, but also experts from the government, academia, nonprofits and the private sector to develop tools and protocols state officials can apply to prevent future attacks.
While Washington, D.C., remains gridlocked on many issues, Americans (and leaders from around the world) increasingly are turning to governors to solve some of the most trying problems we face. Through public-private partnerships, issue-specific task forces and open dialogues with policy experts, it’s our governors who roll up their sleeves and execute.
Though each state is unique, there is one common denominator among them: The buck stops with the governor. And that’s why governors put politics aside and work together to achieve outcomes that improve the lives of Americans from Missouri to Florida, Alaska, Hawaii and beyond.
Scott Pattison serves as executive director and CEO of the National Governors Association, the bipartisan organization of the nation’s governors.
