In a time when civil discourse is being broken down, government appears dysfunctional, and there is no apparent hope for American politics, I had the opportunity to attend the Western Governors’ Association 2024 annual meeting through my participation in the Western Governors’ Foundation Leadership Institute.

WGA’s annual meeting has proven to me that bipartisanship and crafting good public policy is still possible. As WGA’s Chair Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said, “I am very happy to say today America has demonstrated yet again that innovation will trump regulation and that we can move forward in a future which is beneficial to all of us. If we can continue to work together, there is so much that we can accomplish.” No matter one’s political party affiliation, this organization has shaped public policy on issues that impact everyone such as water quality, water resource management, transportation infrastructure, and disaster preparedness and response.

Yes, the headlines on Fox News or CNN may be divisive and a severe attempt to grab your attention, but I’m still optimistic that bipartisanship and coming together as Americans is still possible today.

Similar to the sentiment of the Western Governors’ Association, our congressman does a phenomenal job at crafting and accomplishing public policy. Even though he’s our state’s lone representative, Congressman Dusty Johnson has had many legislative victories for our country and South Dakota.

For example, Dusty spearheaded landmark reform to our nation’s ocean shipping laws for the first time in a quarter century to protect our businesses and consumers from price gouging by foreign-flagged ocean liners and to combat China. This was particularly helpful to South Dakota since a large percentage of our state’s corn, soybeans, beef, and dairy are exported and eventually end up in foreign markets. For example, 60% of our state’s soybeans are exported.

If there’s one thing to take away from my writing today, it’s that bipartisanship and good public policy are not dead. There is still great hope through organizations such as the Western Governors’ Association and statesmen like Congressman Dusty Johnson.