WELCOME!!

On behalf of the New Mexico State Legislature, it is our pleasure to invite you to join us in Santa Fe, New Mexico October 5-8, 2009 for the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Council of State Governments-WEST. This meeting is one of the first events in the 15 month celebration that has been planned to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the City of Santa Fe. New Mexicans are justly proud of our capital city and we are eager to welcome legislators from our sister states of the West to join with us in the quadricentennial celebration of America’s oldest, highest and in our opinion, most festive state capital.

Our meeting theme “The West: America’s Future” reflects the enduring spirit of optimism that has defined the West and westerners. In these times it is essential that the states of our region look for opportunities to collaborate and share our experiences and lessons learned on what works and what doesn’t work in serving the people we have been elected to represent. We are convinced that we must resist the temptation to turn inward and retreat from cross-border conversations with other legislators. The answer in difficult times is not less but more interaction with colleagues who are struggling with the same or similar budget pressures. And as the enclosed registration brochure clearly shows, we have planned a very substantive and significant program for our western colleagues.

Among the keynote speakers planning to join us at this event are polling and political analyst John Zogby as well as CNN commentator David Gergen, who served as an advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. There will be opportunities to take advantage of professional development sessions as well as discussions on the future of western North America with Mexican, U.S. and Canadian public officials. Conference participants will also have the opportunity to attend a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) seminar as well as robust policy sessions on critical western issues such as energy, natural resources, water, health, fiscal affairs, trade, transportation and demographic trends in the western states.

We hope you will be able to attend the CSG-WEST Annual Meeting in Santa Fe this fall. New Mexico looks forward to hosting you and other western legislators in a most spectacular city and region of the West during the fall season of beautiful colors and balloon festivals.

Sincerely,

Representative Jose A. Campos
CSG-WEST Chair
New Mexico Host Chair

Senator Timothy Z. Jennings
President Pro Tempore
New Mexico Senate

Representative Ben Lujan
Speaker of the House
New Mexico House of Representatives