Upcoming Events
Register for the CSG West Annual Meeting
Join us this summer for the 75th CSG West Annual Meeting, July 19-22, in Boise, Idaho. This is CSG West’s largest gathering of Western legislators and registration is now open.

Register below and click on the video to Discover What’s Possible at the upcoming meeting. See you in Boise!
Public Safety
CSG West Chair-Elect Gipson Convenes "It Takes a Village" Gun & Gang Violence Conference
On April 8-9, in response to recent shootings in his district, Assemblymember Mike Gipson, CSG West chair-elect, convened a conference to address gun violence and gang violence. The event was held at California State University, Dominguez Hills and included elected officials Assemblymember Mia Bonta, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, law enforcement, gang interventionists, and community leaders.
 
Attendees listened to presentations from the Los Angeles County Office of Violence Prevention, Brady United, and the Los Angeles Gang Reduction & Youth Development Program (GRYD). Los Angeles Police Department staff gave a demonstration of the uncomplicated steps to assemble a ghost gun.

Click below to read more about this conference.
Click below to watch video highlights from "It Takes a Village".
Health
Mental Health Awareness Month: Recognizing Efforts to Meet Growing Challenges
As research depicts increasing challenges surrounding mental health, CSG West recognizes the timeliness of Mental Health Awareness Month. Exacerbated by the pandemic, preexisting trends have taken new shape and yielded troubling data:

  • In 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that for the first time, drug overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 over a 12-month period – a 28.5% increase from the previous year.

  • Research involving 80,000 youth globally reveal depressive and anxiety symptoms doubled during the pandemic.

  • In spring 2021, emergency department visits in the U.S. for suspected suicide attempts were 51% higher for adolescent girls compared to the same time period in 2019.  

With teens and adolescents particularly impacted, last year the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory about the emerging youth mental health “crisis”, while a coalition of leading pediatric experts declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health.
Workforce Development
Order of Selection: How Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies Prioritize Service to Individuals with Disabilities
The Council of State Governments, in collaboration with the State Exchange on Employment & Disability (SEED), published a new blog titled “Order of Selection: How Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies Prioritize Service to Individuals with Disabilities.” The blog explains the purpose of Order of Selection and how some states have implemented policies to expand the capacity of their vocational rehabilitation agencies to provide employment services to more individuals with disabilities to prepare for and engage in competitive integrated employment or supported employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency.  
 
Click below to read the blog, including policy examples from four states: 
Supreme Court News
SLLC Files Supreme Court Brief in Waters of the United States Case
In Sackett v. EPA the U.S. Supreme Court will decide the proper test for determining when wetlands are “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). The State and Local Legal Center (SLLC) amicus brief argues that municipal water infrastructure isn’t WOTUS.
 
The Clean Water Act (CWA) prohibits discharging pollutants into “navigable waters,” defined as “waters of the United States” without a permit.
 
CWA regulations define WOTUS to include “wetlands” that are “adjacent” to traditional navigable waters and their tributaries. In Rapanos v. United States (2006) Justice Scalia and Justice Kennedy offered competing criteria for determining when a wetland is WOTUS.  

To read more about this case, click below.
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