Governor-elect Dannel Malloy traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with other new governors, the state's Congressional delegation, and administration officials, as well as hearing speeches by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Kim Geiger, from the Tribune Company's Washington bureau, filed the following dispatch:
Governor-elect Dannel P. Malloy was among about two dozen newly elected governors who met with President Barack Obama on Thursday for a discussion that Malloy described as "fruitful."
"It was a very helpful meeting," Malloy said at a press conference after the meeting. "The president was very frank, very open."
Also during his trip, Malloy attended a Wednesday luncheon with the Democratic Governors Association and met with the state's Congressional delegation, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Malloy described Obama's tone at the meeting - which included governors-elect from both political parties - as "cordial."
Healthcare, transportation infrastructure and education were among the topics of discussion, the governors said.
"He's got a great grasp of these issues and the intricacies of these issues," Malloy said of Obama. "You don't get a short answer, but you get a very thorough answer."
One key topic was implementation of the healthcare law - an issue of particular importance to governors, whose states will be responsible for establishing insurance exchanges by 2014.
"Clearly, there is a desire to allow this to be done each state by state," Malloy said. "Where it's possible, I think the greatest latitude will be granted."