TOPEKA–The Council of State Government’s Midwest has announced that 109th Dist. Rep. Troy L. Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, has been selected to participate in the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD), which is a leadership program for legislators from eleven states, including Kansas, and provinces from Canada.
Representative Waymaster is one of three Kansas legislators from the Kansas Legislature that has been selected to attend the leadership program this summer.
The Bowhay Institute is the only leadership training program designed exclusively for Midwestern legislators.
This program focuses on developing legislators with the necessary skills to become effective leaders, informed decision-makers, and astute policy analysts. The program offers a unique opportunity for lawmakers to improve their leadership skills and explore the issues of the day with nationally renowned scholars, professional development experts, and legislative leaders and colleagues from across the region.
Three legislators are selected from the following states and Canadian provinces to participate in this legislative program: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and from the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario.
The legislative leadership program is held in Madison, Wisconsin, and will be conducted this year from August 21-25, 2015.
Every summer, thirty-seven lawmakers from the eleven member states of the Midwestern Legislative Conference and its affiliate members, gather in Madison, Wisconsin, for a unique five-day educational experience.
In addition to its focus on leadership training, such as conflict resolution and negotiation, BILLD includes policy sessions on issues such as education, corrections, health care and economic development, as well as seminars on media relations, priority management and consensus building.
The BILLD program is conducted by the Council of State Government’s Midwestern Office in cooperation with The Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The program takes place each summer on the university’s campus. Fellowships are awarded on a competitive, nonpartisan basis by a Steering Committee of legislators from the region.
The other legislators from the Kansas Legislature that were also awarded Fellowships along with Representative Waymaster are Representatives Melissa Rooker and Nancy Lusk, both from Johnson County.
Representative Waymaster represents the 109th Kansas House District, which includes the counties of Barton, Jewell, Lincoln, Osborne, Rush, Russell, and Smith.