Membership Monthly – March 2026

Updates from the NGA Membership Team for March 2026. For more about the programs below and a list of upcoming events please email NGA at: [email protected].

March Spotlight

NGA Holds 2026 Winter Meeting

NGA hosted the 2026 Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C., February 19-21. NGA welcomed more than 40 Governors and other experts to the meeting for solutions-driven conversations on pressing national issues including affordability, energy, economic growth, artificial intelligence and more.

NGA Chair Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Vice Chair Maryland Governor Wes Moore closed out the 2026 NGA Winter Meeting with a press conference where they offered thanks to their fellow Governors for a week of collaboration on the issues that matter to Americans. View the closing press conference here.

Visit NGA's website for summaries of the sessions Governors led at the Winter Meeting.

Check out NGA's YouTube playlist to view videos of the sessions held at the Winter Meeting.

Meeting photos can be accessed through NGA's Flickr page.

First Spouses

First Spouses Convene at NGA Winter Meeting

At the 2026 NGA Winter Meeting, First Spouses met with Second Lady Usha Vance, the Special Olympics (meeting pictured below), Hope Awareness Training and the University of Oklahoma. The meetings with Hope Awareness Training and the University of Oklahoma served as an extension of Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt's ongoing efforts to raise hope among all communities, particularly the most vulnerable. As part of her work, Mrs. Stitt co-founded Hope Rising USA as an initiative to empower people, families and communities to better their lives through the Science of Hope. Read more here.

NGA Holds Youth Mental Health Action Lab

NGA hosted First Spouses and state policy teams from across the country for the 2026 Youth Mental Health Action Lab. Held in Ashville, North Carolina, the Action Lab included a series of discussions with subject-matter experts on actionable steps states and territories can take to improve youth mental health outcomes. More details about the meeting can be found here. Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt (pictured below) was one of the First Spouses who participated in the meeting.

Gubernatorial Elections

NGA Resource Tracks Gubernatorial Elections

This month, two states held primary elections for Governor. In Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be the Republican nominee against Democratic challenger Arkansas State Senator Fred Love. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott will be the Republican nominee against Democratic challenger Texas State Representative Gina Hinojosa.

NGA maintains this resource to provide information about the 39 gubernatorial elections scheduled this year, including upcoming primaries. In 2026, 18 incumbent Governors are running for reelection, and 21 incumbent Governors are either term-limited or currently not seeking reelection. The general election is scheduled to be held November 3.

Chair's Initiative

NGA Shares New Opportunities to Engage with the Reigniting the American Dream Initiative

NGA Chair Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is launching new programs to support the goals of his 2025-2026 Chair's Initiative Reigniting the American Dream:

Entrepreneurship Compact

As part of his Reigniting the American Dream initiative, Governor Stitt issued Executive Order 2026-04 to clear hurdles to starting a business in Oklahoma. With this Compact, he encourages other Governors to advance entrepreneurship in their own states and territories and is asking fellow Governors to sign onto the Compact that will be unveiled at NGA's Summer Meeting this July.

Governors Youth Apprenticeship Program

NGA has partnered with CareerWise and Western Governors University (WGU) to establish a first of its kind pathway into state government in the United States: the Governors Youth Apprenticeship Program. This program empowers Governors to lead by example - modeling high-quality workforce practices they want the private sector to adopt while simultaneously building a pipeline of young talent to fill critical public-sector roles. Governors' teams will receive ready-to-use tools and hands-on assistance for navigating registration and compliance processes, and coursework will come at no cost to students.

Recent NGA Activities

Governors Applaud Progress on Housing Affordability

NGA and Blue Star Families Launch Do Your Part State Toolkit to Support Military Families

At the 2026 NGA Winter Meeting, Blue Star Families, the nation's largest nonprofit serving military and veteran families, launched the Do Your Part State Toolkit, a first-of-its-kind, policy resource designed to highlight and advance state-level actions that support military-connected families.

The Do Your Part State Toolkit is a practical resource for states to learn from one another, identify easy-to-implement opportunities, and deliver real impact through proven, straightforward efforts.

The Do Your Part State Initiative is a national, bipartisan initiative co-chaired by NGA Vice Chair Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Utah Governor Spencer Cox to help states strengthen their support of military families.

States and territories that have already joined the Do Your Part State Initiative include Alabama, American Samoa, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet participated in a conversation held at the NGA Winter Meeting to highlight ways Governors are working to help military families and veterans achieve the American Dream. Watch the discussion here.

NGA and C-BEN Partner to Strengthen Public Talent Infrastructure

The Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) launched Powering Trust in Skills, a new national initiative supported by the Walmart Foundation, and released the Governing Talent Marketplaces: A Guide for State Leaders, developed in partnership with NGA. Together, this initiative and guide provide Governors' offices and state agencies with practical tools to move from skills-based vision to durable, scalable implementation. Read more here.

NGA Holds Call on Innovative Solutions to Child Care and Early Childhood Priorities

The NGA Children & Families team recently convened state and territory Human Services Policy Advisors to share state strategies, challenges, and lessons learned in strengthening child care systems. The February Network call featured state spotlights from Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Vermont and Wyoming, highlighting how Governors are strategically pursuing their early care and education goals. Read more here.

NGA Releases Policy Brief on Outdoor Recreation and Public Health Policies

NGA hosted an event last year where Governors' health advisors, directors of state and territory offices of outdoor recreation, academics, and non-profit stakeholders discussed opportunities for state and territory innovation at the nexus of health and outdoor recreation policy. NGA released an overview of the meeting to explore ways Governors are advancing health policy and outdoor recreation opportunities in their states and territories. Read more here.

March in Photos

NGA routinely shares photos of Governors at work. Highlights from the past month follow. Governors and First Spouses visiting summer fairs.