RGA Meeting Sets Priorities for New Slate of Republican Governors

Jillian Bandes | November 17, 2010 11:12 AM

The Republican Governor's Association meeting is being held in San Diego this week, and boasts an attendance of 800. Tom Curry reports:

The incoming group of GOP chief executives includes some familiar names and former members of Congress but also boasts several new stars to help reshape the look, if not the ideology, of the Republican Party.

But no matter how fresh-faced or charismatic the new GOP governors may be, they face the same problems as their Democratic predecessors: tax revenues that are below 2008 levels, staggering state employee retiree costs, and high demand for government services, especially because state Medicaid caseloads have jumped by six million people since the recession began.

The governors are significant not only because of the decisions they’ll make on Medicaid and other policies, but because they could install a political apparatus in their states that will help turn out voters for the GOP presidential candidate in 2012.

This event is a rare gathering where state-centered politicians coordinate on a national level.