by NLC Policy Staff

During the Congress of Cities in Reno, Nev., NLC?s seven policy and advocacy committees met to discuss a wide variety of timely issues. Culminating a year?s worth of work by committee members, all proposed policy amendments and resolutions were forwarded to the Resolutions Committee, and then proceeded to the Annual Business Meeting for final adoption by the NLC membership.

A brief summary follows, highlighting new positions in each chapter of the National Municipal Policy:

Energy, Environment and Natural Resources (EENR)
New policy language places greater emphasis on addressing climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

A host of additional amendments were passed, including support for tax incentives for energy efficiency measures, encouragement of an expansion of Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, and discouragement of federal land sales for short-term financial gains.

Four existing resolutions were renewed, including support for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and water infrastructure financing, while three new resolutions address plug-in hybrid vehicles, zero energy homes and pollution from coal tar products.

Staff contact: Ken Rosenfeld, rosenfeld@nlc.org.

Human Development (HD)
Policy amendments and a resolution were approved urging the federal government to implement comprehensive immigration reform, including stronger federal enforcement of borders, visas and workplaces, more effective legal avenues of immigration, support for an earned path to legalized status for undocumented residents and federal assistance for language services, health care, education and civic integration.

Education reform policy was updated to support changes to the ?No Child Left Behind Act,? including increased funding, more flexibility in standards and testing, strengthened family and community involvement, workable teacher quality requirements, and the reduction of drop-out rates.

Also, new policy on long-term care advocates that the federal government should provide education and financial incentives to help Americans prepare financially for these needs.

In addition to renewed resolutions, new resolutions address federal efforts to combat the pandemic flu, funding for after-school programs, and the disparities in health care for minorities.

Staff contact: Pamela Konde, konde@nlc.org.

Community and Economic Development (CED)
New policy language was approved on federal economic development assistance after a disaster, which would help local communities replace infrastructure, run government services and rebuild economies.

Housing policy was updated to support federal efforts to address concentrated poverty through the development of mixed-income communities.

Four resolutions were renewed, including support for the Community Development Block Grant and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Staff contact: Pamela Konde, konde@nlc.org.

Transportation Infrastructure and Services (TIS)
Current language was expanded to encourage federal financial support for waterways, ports and landside connections. Additional new language promotes innovative demonstration projects for mass transit.

Six resolutions were approved, including new resolutions on rail safety and the potential use of customs fees for shipping infrastructure development.

Staff contact: Julia Pulidindi, pulidindi@nlc.org.

Public Safety and Crime Prevention (PSCP)
New policy related to comprehensive immigration reform and national municipal fire policy was adopted, and an executive summary of the PSCP chapter in the National Municipal Policy was approved.

In addition to renewing eight existing resolutions, five new resolutions were enacted addressing a variety of issues, including: supporting the use of non-lethal electronic control devices; urging the federal government to assist public safety studies along the proposed spent nuclear fuel shipping routes; supporting reimbursement of expenses associated with providing essential services to disaster evacuees; calling on Congress to assist municipalities in their efforts to fight illegal guns; and supporting efforts to combat a pandemic flu.

Staff contact: Melinda Glazer, glazer@nlc.org.

Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations (FAIR)
The year?s work focused on a Board-approved action plan on reforming the system of public finance. This resulted in no new policy positions for this year but will guide the committee to lead NLC action on tax reform over the next several years.

Nine resolutions were approved for 2007, including a new resolution on the Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act. The committee also completed an executive summary and glossary of the FAIR chapter.

Staff contact: Julia Pulidindi, pulidindi@nlc.org.

Information Technology and Communications (ITC)
The committee focused this year on advocacy work and exploring emerging technology issues that may impact municipal governments, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

While no new policy was recommended for this year, four resolutions were renewed, including support of local franchise authority and community and local government broadband networks.

Staff contact: Melinda Glazer, glazer@nlc.org.

Details: For further details on the approved changes or the policy process, please contact the policy analyst listed for each issue area.