This week, thirteen U.S. governors sent a letter to leading senators and representatives strongly urging them to take action this year to increase the amounts of available H-1B visas and permanent resident visas for skilled workforce candidates.

“If states like ours are to remain world leaders in innovation and intend to continue to see the job growth that is so vital to our economies, we must keep our employers in our states and ensure there is a skilled workforce in the country to fill their immediate needs,” wrote the governors. “While wholesale immigration reform may not be possible in the 110th Congress, we urge Congressional action this year that recognizes states’ immediate need to recruit and retain professionals in key sectors, while we continue to produce here at home the skilled workforce our companies need in the long-term.”

Signatories of the letter included: Christine O. Gregoire (WA), Arnold Schwarzenegger (CA), Mitch Daniels (IN), Bill Ritter (CO), Deval Patrick (MA), Dave Freudenthal (WY), Eliot Spitzer (NY), Janet Napolitano (AZ), Jim Doyle (WI), Kathleen Sebelius (KS), Tim Pawlenty (MN), Jim Gibbons (NV) and Rick Perry (TX).