Veteran state Rep. Robert Godfrey has been named the national chairman of the Council of State Governments, a nonpartisan group of legislators, governors, and others that covers all 50 states.
A Danbury Democrat, Godfrey has served as a deputy speaker for the past six years and served as a deputy majority leader for 10 years before that.
Through those years, he has spent part of his spare time with the nonprofit council.
"I like to describe it as the chamber of commerce for state governments,'' Godfrey told Capitol Watch. "It's a gateway organization.''
CSG is filled with policy wonks who are interested in a wide variety of issues, and it is often ahead of the curve on important topics. Recently, the lawmakers looked at the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's national healthcare law - the exact topic that gained widespread publicity when a judge in Virginia ruled that a portion of the law was unconstitutional.
As he has moved up in the leadership ranks, Godfrey has been able to meet important leaders whom he says he would never have met otherwise.
At a recent national meeting in Providence, he found himself at breakfast "sitting right next to David Gergen,'' Godfrey said of the nationally known political adviser. "Now I understand why he advises presidents. He's just an amazing person.''
At another small dinner that was attended by only four people, Godfrey ate with the governors of Vermont and Montana. He described Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas as an "old Rockefeller, Prescott Bush Republican with a dollop of Green Mountain folksiness.''
Now in a position of influence within the organization, Godfrey will be hosting a four-day session for about 500 CSG members at the Mohegan Sun in late March. Called the Growth and Prosperity Summit, the seminars will focus on job growth and retention - and will bring hundreds of visitors who would not otherwise have come to Connecticut.