Governor Mills Statement on National Governors Association Winter Meeting

Press Release

Governor Janet Mills returned home to Maine yesterday after participating in the National Governors Association's (NGA) Annual Winter Meeting. The Winter Meeting, which was the first time in more than two years that the nation's governors convened in person, offered a forum to meet with Federal leaders, to discuss issues governors are confronting in their state, and to share best practices and innovative solutions.

Governor Mills Speaks at NGA Winter MeetingAs part of the meeting, Governor Mills on Monday attended the Governor's Business Session at the White House with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Cabinet officials. During the meeting, the Governors and the President discussed several issues, including:

efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, including Federal support for states to maintain the capacity of health care systems during the Omicron surge and, with the increased prevalence of at home-testing, the utility of case counts as a metric of the severity of the pandemic;
economic recovery efforts, including use of American Rescue Plan funding by states to increase competitiveness and address systemic issues to improve the economy, as well as the impact of inflation on economic recovery;
the importance of ensuring that schools remain open and students remain in the classroom; and
the implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the importance of Federal flexibility in use of the funding.
Governor Mills also met with the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Dr. Rahul Gupta, to discuss Maine's ongoing opioid epidemic, which has worsened during the pandemic. During the meeting, she shared with Dr. Gupta' Maine's approach to distributing naloxone to save lives, the State's work to prevent substance use disorder, and efforts to improve the availability and accessibility of harm reduction and recovery programs.

"I appreciated having the opportunity to meet with the President, Cabinet officials, and fellow governors to talk about a wide range of important issues, like the pandemic, economic recovery, workforce, education, infrastructure, the opioid epidemic and more," said Governor Janet Mills. "From the President to my fellow governors, there was consensus that we all want to move America and our states forward to achieve a much-needed sense of stability and normalcy for our citizens. To that end, my focus, like that of many other governors, remains on ensuring that Maine people can stay healthy, that kids can stay in school, that parents can go back to work, and that we can help Maine people deal with some of the overarching issues caused by the pandemic, like higher prices of everyday items. I will continue to work with the Federal government and the Maine Legislature to address these crucial issues."

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