They share borders, policy challenges and the occasional snowstorm. Now, every few months, the governors of the three Southern New England states share a conference room.
Thursday at Rhode Island College in Providence, Gov. Ned Lamont (D-CT), Gov. Gina Raimondo (D-RI) and Gov. Charlie Baker (R-MA) held their second "summit" to discuss regional issues, and to consider how the states can best help each other address them.
"We learn from the best practices of our fellow governors," said Gov. Lamont, who went so far as to nickname the trio the "Three Amigos."
Specifically, Lamont is weighing Raimondo's advice on navigating the politically charged task of raising billions of dollars for vital road and bridge work.
Raimondo touted the 10 year, $5 billion RhodeWorks program, which levies tolls on large trucks to fund an effort to revamp Rhode Island's roads and bridges-- as in Connecticut, they're some of the worst in the country. She says, "Since the time that we've done that, we now have more road work than... at any time in Rhode Island's history. We're putting a lot of people to work doing it, our bridges are coming up to a state of good repair, and.... trucks are not diverting the bridges and tolls, as some had said they would."
In his first year in office, Gov. Lamont has presented various tolling plans to lawmakers. All have faced stiff opposition from Republicans.
Whether or not his plan winds up resembling Gov. Raimondo's, Lamont says she emphasized "there's nothing more important" than improving the quality of transportation around their states.
The governors hope that all of their talks will result in concrete mutual action. That could include a coordinated regional climate change response. They'll also seek a way to streamline regulations on vaping and marijuana use, which vary drastically by state.
As they attempt to achieve those goals, another conference room is in the governors' future, most likely in Massachusetts (Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic hosted the first "summit" in July).