Published on July 18, 2019
The three governors of southern New England convened at Eastern Connecticut State University’s science building on July 16 for a private lunch and press conference. Governors Ned Lamont (Connecticut), Charlie Baker (Massachusetts) and Gina Raimondo (Rhode Island) discussed issues of common interest among the neighboring states — transportation and infrastructure, renewable energy and shared purchasing.
Eastern President Elsa Núñez praised the two Democrats and one Republican (Baker) for meeting despite political differences, saying that this sort of open-minded dialogue is a pillar of Eastern’s liberal arts education. “I applaud our three governors for their leadership in working on these critical issues in New England,” she said.
“When it comes to Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, I think personal relationships are really important and that’s what we really wanted to kick off again today,” said Lamont of the summit. The three agreed to reconvene this fall in Providence to continue their discussions.
Amid his first year in office, Lamont said that veteran governors Baker and Raimondo offered him advice and encouragement. Noting the uncommon job of working as a governor, Baker emphasized the importance of coming together to discuss ideas and challenges.
“We came together today to say, ‘how can we help each other do our jobs better and deliver for the people of our state?’” said Raimondo. “Hopefully a few people in Washington might take a page out of this book and say, ‘we’re going to sit down and cross party lines and compare ideas and compare notes and actually try to solve problems.’”
Written by Michael Rouleau
