Burgum elected to National Governors Association Executive Committee at summer meeting

Photo by: Governor Doug Burgum - Facebook
Photo by: Governor Doug Burgum - Facebook

(Bismarck, ND) -- Governor Doug Burgum Friday was elected to the National Governors Association’s Executive Committee during the NGA Summer Meeting in Portland, Maine – the first summertime gathering of the nation’s governors since 2019.

Burgum will serve as one of seven at-large members on the nine-member NGA Executive Committee. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was elected to succeed Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson as NGA chairman, while Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was elected to serve as vice chairman.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve on the NGA Executive Committee and continue working with fellow governors on the various challenges and opportunities facing our states, including in the agriculture and energy sectors that are so critically important to North Dakota and our national security,” said Burgum in a statement released to WDAY Radio. “This year’s summer meeting was a great example of how NGA provides a unique bipartisan setting for governors to promote states’ rights, discuss ideas and best practices, and highlight policy successes and solutions to our shared challenges.”

The three-day meeting included a session led by Hutchinson on K-12 Computer Science Education and a Compact to Advance K-12 Computer Science Education signed by 50 governors, including Burgum. Burgum and Hawaii Governor David Ige recently co-authored an op-ed piece about how states are leading the way in computer science education, with North Dakota being the first state to integrate computer science and cybersecurity standards for K-12 students.

Burgum participated in a session on the return of travel and tourism and how governors can work with industry moving forward to maximize tourism, along with discussions on cybersecurity, power grid resiliency and other topics. He also met with representatives from the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, discussing a range of topics including North American energy security, the International Peace Garden and challenges with flooding along the U.S.-Canada border in northeastern North Dakota.

The NGA Summer Meeting is one of two annual convenings of the NGA, a bipartisan organization representing governors from the 50 states and five U.S. territories.