Capitol Comments

Rhode Island Attorney General Makes History

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch was unanimously elected as the 101st president of the National Association of Attorneys General last week. He is the first attorney general from Rhode Island selected for the post.

“I am immensely honored to serve NAAG in this leadership capacity and eager to work with the new officers and NAAG’s entire membership to embark on the challenging work ahead,” Lynch said.

Attorneys general also elected Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning as president-elect; North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper as vice president; and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden as immediate past president for the 2008-2009 term.

The Association also announced its annual award winners:

Wilson Wins Rooney Award

Sara Redding Wilson, director of Virginia Human Resource Management, has been selected as the winner of the 2008 National Association of State Personnel Executives Eugene H. Rooney Jr. Leadership Award.

Wilson was appointed director of the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management in April 1998 and is the first person to be reappointed twice to that position since 1974. During her tenure, she has been instrumental in the re-engineering of human resource programs statewide and introducing technological solutions to HR initiatives.

NLGA Pursues Energy, Health, Children's Programs

The nation’s lieutenant governors are pursuing programs regarding energy, health and children as they welcome new officers to lead the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA).  Thirty-one NLGA members gathered in Williamsburg, Va., for the NLGA Annual Meeting in July.   

The members passed three resolutions, as follows:
• Energy Independence and Climate Protection Resolution
• Resolution in Support of Mentoring
• Reduction of Phosphorous in Household Dishwashing Detergents Resolution 

NLGA Wins National Award

The National Lieutenant Governors Association is one of six associations selected to receive a Summit Award by ASAE and The Center for Association Leadership's Associations Advance America Committee.

The award is the highest honor for associations that implement innovative community-based programs. NLGA, an affiliate of The Council of State Governments, was recognized for its campaign: Ending Cervical Cancer in our Lifetime.

Other associations winning the Summit Award were:

• American Farm Bureau Federation
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• American Anthropoligical Association
• Amachi Texas
• Soroptimist International of the Americas