Posted on: Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Western states lawmakers meet in Hawai'i

Advertiser Staff

The Hawai'i State Legislature is hosting more than 450 lawmakers from 12 other Western states that make up the Council of State Government's Western division today through Friday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Hawai'i lawmakers are expected to showcase the Aloha State as a model of cultural diversity during the Western Legislative Conference. The theme of the conference is The Blue Frontier: Leading the West into the Pacific Century.

Among the topics to be discussed during a week-long series of workshops are the impact of Medicaid on state budgets; tourism in the current economy; impact of the federal No Child Left Behind law on state budgets and authority; changes in Western agriculture in an international market; managing water resources in times of growth and drought; energy transmission across public lands; trade and transportation, and access to and affordability of higher education.