NLC Works With Congress, President-Elect’s Transition Team on Economic Recovery
by Carolyn Coleman
As the nation prepares for the historic presidential transition, NLC and the nation’s local elected leaders are calling upon Congress and the President-elect’s Transition Team to take immediate action on a new economic recovery package that will help America’s hometowns and families by stimulating the economy, creating good jobs for residents and providing meaningful long-lasting benefits to communities.
Recent news that the country is officially in an economic recession and the release of the latest jobless numbers showing unemployment on the rise have only added to the sense of urgency in Washington for quick federal action, which NLC President Kathleen Novak, mayor, Northglenn, Colo., called for at NLC’s Congress of Cities and Exposition last month.
In issuing her call to action last month, Novak urged local elected leaders to call on their members of Congress to enact a robust stimulus package with funds to invest in the nation’s infrastructure, families, and to ensure that state and local governments have readily available access to the capital markets. To view a copy of NLC’s Call to Action for Economic Recovery, click here.
NLC's federal relations staff, state municipal leagues and local elected officials have been making the case for investment in America’s hometowns, and Congress is responding.
Last week, congressional leaders announced their intentions to begin work on economic stimulus legislation in early January with hopes of having it ready for the President’s signature shortly after the inauguration on January 20, 2009. While the spending level and the specific elements of a stimulus package are still being developed, the President-elect says it will be the “single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s.”
As Congress prepares for introduction of the legislation and the presidential transition, NLC has reached out to, and been contacted by, transition team representatives overseeing the transition from an intergovernmental perspective and at the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Transportation, Homeland Security, and Treasury, among others, to describe how America’s hometowns are an integral part of the solutions to the challenges facing the country. In response, the President-elect’s representatives have solicited opinions and recommendations for policy changes from NLC and conveyed a desire to collaborate in these challenging times.
In the coming weeks, members of Congress will return home for the holidays. As they prepare to head home, Novak renewed her call to action for economic recovery and urged local elected officials to step up their advocacy for a hometown stimulus package, saying, “America’s cities and towns stand ready to work with Congress and the new Administration on economic recovery. Only by working together to overcome the challenges facing our country can America be successful.”
|