What
is the Border Legislative Conference?
The Border Legislative Conference
(BLC) is a program administered by the Council of State Governments (CSG-WEST)
and its regional partner in the South, the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC),
that serves as a mechanism for on-going dialogue and collaboration among state
legislators of the
United States
and
Mexico
. The goal of the project is to empower border state legislators to engage in
the binational agenda and provide input and direction in the development of
policy between both countries.
The BLC
fosters the development of shared solutions along the border region through
joint consideration of
common
problems and exchange of information. The
BLC also seeks to establish efficient and strategic collaborative efforts with
multi level governments and non-governmental organizations to the end that
border communities and state governments on both sides of the border may be
strengthened and improved.
Membership
in the BLC is comprised of legislators from the ten states along the U.S.-Mexico
border. These states include
California
,
Arizona
,
New Mexico
, and
Texas
in the
U.S.
, and
Baja California
,
Sonora
,
Chihuahua
, Coahuila, Nuevo
Leon
, and Tamaulipas in
Mexico
.
The
staff of CSG-WEST and the SLC provide the administrative support of the
program, including the coordination and organization of forums, preparation of
recommendations and analysis, and the implementation of policies and actions as
directed by participating legislators.
Program staff consists of a program director, an administrative assistant
and support staff from CSG’s Western, Southern and
Washington
,
D.C.
offices.
Financial support of the program
is provided by a grant from the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID). For more
information about the BLC, you can visit our website at www.borderlegislators.org.
You may also contact
Edgar Ruiz
, Program Director of the Border Legislative Conference, at (916) 553-4423 or by
e-mail at eruiz@csg.org .