BILLD wraps for 2024, Great Lakes nutrient management and CSG's compacts database

CSG Midwest News for the Region's Legislators & Policy Leaders |View as Webpage

Ready to lead: Congratulations to the 2024 BILLD Fellows

Earlier this week, nearly 40 select legislators from the Midwest's states and provinces completed the intensive and interactive BILLD program. They join more than 1,000 legislators who have received training through the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development, a signature program of The Council of State Governments' Midwestern Legislative Conference.

The MLC congratulates the new BILLD graduates and lauds the commitment they made to advancing their legislative and leadership skills. The 2024 BILLD learning experience included:

training in areas such as positive leadership and effective speech making and communication;
policy sessions on economic development, Midwest-Canada relations, and the use of data to improve public safety;
seminars on the role of lawmakers in protecting the legislative institution and understanding how the judiciary interprets the statutes that legislatures make; and
the chance to learn from and build relationships with other up-and-coming legislators from the Midwest.

Fellowships are awarded each spring on a competitive basis by the MLC's bipartisan BILLD Steering Committee of legislators. See the 2024 BILLD class here.

Ohio, other Midwest states are investing more in water quality, exploring new ways to manage phosphorus

Ten years ago, toxins from harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie’s western basin left an entire Ohio city without safe water for several days. One cause of the Toledo water crisis: phosphorus from farm fields and wastewater systems that reached Lake Erie’s western basin and its warming, shallow waters.

A decade later, 1.85 million acres of cropland in that basin has been voluntarily enrolled in a water quality initiative known as H2Ohio. With financial and technical assistance from the state and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, enrolled farmers agree to adopt nutrient management plans and practices proven to reduce runoff.

Earlier this summer, at the CSG Midwestern Legislative Conference Annual Meeting, an expert panel discussed the progress being made under H2Ohio, as well as whether voluntary programs like it are enough to protect the region’s water resources..

Read the Stateline Midwest article

CSG Midwest's work on water quality and the Great Lakes

CSG Midwest provides staff support to the binational, bipartisan Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus, which helped organize the recent session at the MLC Annual Meeting (see above) and provides an ongoing forum for the region's legislators to work on policies related to the Great Lakes.

Nutrient management is one of the GLLC's five areas of policy focus, along with water consumption, aquatic invasive species, toxic substances and coastal resiliency.

The GLLC will hold its Annual Meeting on Sept. 9-10 in Duluth, Minn.

Learn about the GLLC and its upcoming meeting

Want to learn about interstate compacts or pursue new ones in your state? CSG is here to help

With 250 active interstate compacts, chances are good that your state is in one or two dozen of these legally binding agreements. CSG's National Center for Interstate Compacts estimates that, on average, states are members of at least 25 such agreements.

In addition to experts who can answer your questions, the center maintains a database of all compacts in place in the U.S. states and territories, the District of Columbia, and Canadian provinces.

CSG National Conference: Dec. 4-7

Make plans now to join fellow leaders from all three branches of government for the CSG National Conference in New Orleans. Registration is now open, with a discount on hotel reservations available through Nov. 1.

Registration page

About CSG and the Midwestern Legislative Conference

The Council of State Governments is the nation’s only nonpartisan association of state officials serving all three branches of government in all 50 states and the U.S. territories. CSG is a region-based, national organization that champions excellence in state government. CSG Midwest provides staff support to multiple interstate groups, including the Midwestern Legislative Conference.

The MLC includes all legislators from 11 Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The Canadian province of Saskatchewan also is a member. The provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario are affiliate members.