Stark political divides overshadow gathering of governors in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Stark political divides among the states on abortion, gun rights and other issues are overshadowing a meeting this week of the nation's governors, who still hope to find common ground in a polarized climate.
The National Governors Association kicks off its summer meeting Thursday, the first time the group has met in-person since 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The session in Maine follows recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have deepened the rift between red and blue states, by overturning Roe v. Wade and striking down gun restrictions in New York.
The association's leaders say there's still room for bipartisanship — at least on other issues.
"The National Governors Association is the last standing, true bipartisan group that gets things done," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who is wrapping up his yearlong term as the association's chair, said in an interview.
Hutchinson is handing the reins of the group to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, who will serve as its next chair. The two governors last month announced the association was forming a bipartisan task force to make recommendations on preventing mass shootings, following the massacre at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers.
The task force was announced before Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed a sweeping, bipartisan gun violence measure that includes billions in new funding for mental health and school safety. The task force is comprised of eight governors, equally divided between Republicans and Democrats.
Hutchinson said he sees the group helping shepherd that law's implementation at the state level.
"What I see this task force doing is being able to help shape the rules for the grant programs for the states to make sure we have the flexibility, that the mental health resources and others have the fewest amount of strings attached," he said.
He said he also sees the group providing information on best practices for school safety and red flag laws that some states have enacted that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people determined to be dangerous.