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NLC Sets Federal Legislative Priorities
NLC Calls for Full Funding for CDBG in FY 2012 Budget
Transportation Authorization Remains Front and Center in New Congress
NLC Urges SEC to Reject Floating Net Asset Value for Money Market Funds
Additional Resources Address Lingering Street Sign Concerns
NLC Sets Federal Legislative Priorities
Last weekend, NLC President James E. Mitchell, Jr., council member, Charlotte, N.C., led a delegation of NLC officers and board members to the White House to meet with senior Obama administration officials and share top priorities for cities.
The White House meetings took place as part of NLC's annual leadership planning meeting held each January. At the meeting, held in Washington, D.C., this year, NLC officers and board members heard from experts on the state of the economy, the potential impacts of the growing federal and state deficits on cities, and the prospects for legislative action in the new Congress.
As a result of their discussions, the NLC board of directors set the 2011 legislative priorities for the organization, "NLC's Agenda for Economic Growth," which calls on Congress and the administration to: authorize a new federal surface transportation program; continue to take action to create jobs; protect level funding ($4 billion) for the Community Development Block Grant Program in the FY 2012 budget; and enact comprehensive immigration reform.
We encourage you to come to Washington in March for NLC's Congressional City Conference to help us lobby Congress and the Administration on these important initiatives. For additional information on the Conference, click here. (Carolyn Coleman, coleman@nlc.org, 202.626.3023)
NLC Calls for Full Funding for CDBG in FY 2012 Budget
Serious discussions are taking place inside the Obama Administration regarding the proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2012. Although not confirmed, Washington sources have indicated that theCommunity Development Block Grant (CDBG) is facing a possible cut of up to 25 percent (which equates to $1 billion) in the President's Budget. Final decisions on the President's budget are likely to be made soon with the approaching State of the Union address later this month, and the unveiling of the budget in mid-February.
Last week, in addition to NLC's Board stressing the importance of this program to Obama senior officials, NLC, along with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, and several other national organizations wrote a letter to President Obama about the importance of the CDBG program to economic recovery in our communities. To view a copy of the letter, click here.
If your city hasn't done so already (and we know many of you have), we also need you to contact the White House to stress the positive impact this program continues to have in your communities on job creation and other quality of life indicators and to push for full funding of it in the President's budget. E-mails can be sent to mayors@who.eop.gov. (Mike Wallace, wallace@nlc.org, 202.626.3025)
Transportation Authorization Remains Front and Center in New Congress
As the 112th Congress gets underway, transportation leaders in the House and Senate are taking steps to restart the authorization debate. The current federal program expired in September 2009 and has been kept alive via a series of short-term extensions as Congress tries to reach consensus on a new program.
In the House, Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has said he hopes to move a transportation authorization bill sometime this year. A current list of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members can be found here. Earlier this week, Rep. Mica announced his intention to hold field hearings outside of Washington, D.C. to learn more about local transportation concerns. NLC will keep you informed of such events when more details become available.
In the Senate, Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced last week that she is working to find areas of agreement with both Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), the ranking Republican on the Committee, and Rep. Mica on a new transportation bill. On January 26, the Committee will hold a hearing on surface transportation.
Transportation authorization is also on the Administration's radar, as the U.S. Department of Transportation has been working with the White House to flesh out priorities for a new bill, as well. President Obama is expected to address his priorities for a surface transportation program in the State of the Union address on January 25.
The authorization of a new transportation program is a top priority for 2011 for NLC. In support of a new program, NLC members recently reaffirmed a resolution calling for a comprehensive federal surface transportation program that requires collaboration between states and local governments, supports multi-modalism and local decision making, invests in outcome oriented solutions, and involves a strong federal role in transportation. (Leslie Wollack, wollack@nlc.org, 202.626.3029)
NLC Urges SEC to Reject Floating Net Asset Value for Money Market Funds
On Monday, NLC joined eleven other groups representing municipal issuers and borrowers in filing comments opposing further consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of a recommendation to adopt a floating Net Asset Value (NAV) for money market funds. The President's Working Group on Financial Markets recommended the floating NAV in a report it issued in October 2010.
Currently, the SEC's Rule 2a-7 on money market funds requires funds to maintain a stable NAV of $1 per share. A few funds, however, were unable to do so in September 2008, when the Lehman Brothers bonds they owned defaulted following that firm's collapse, and fund investors rushed to sell their shares. The report opines that a floating NAV would "help remove the perception" that mutual funds are risk-free and induce investor incentives to flee distressed funds.
NLC urged the SEC not to consider the idea, arguing that a fixed NAV is the "hallmark" of money market funds. A floating NAV would harm local governments that both invest in such funds for cash-management purposes and issue short-term debt purchased by such funds. Money market funds are the largest investor in short-term municipal bonds, holding 65 percent of the $500 billion of outstanding debt. If the SEC were to adopt a floating NAV, cities would lose a safe option for their own short-term investments as required by internal investment policies, as well as a source of capital funds for infrastructure and other capital projects. To read the comments, click here. (Lars Etzkorn, etzkorn@nlc.org, 202.626.3173)
Additional Resources Address Lingering Street Sign Concerns
NLC continues to field questions about changes to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) rules on street signs that have received a lot of recent media attention and sparked concern over additional costs to cities. The changes to the FHWA's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which compiles national standards for traffic control devices, sparked a series of media reports over updates to street sign lettering and size that went into effect last fall and that impact all cities with street signs.
In early December, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood reopened the comment period for additional public input and comments are due today, January 14th. We'll update you if the FHWA recommends further changes based on comments they receive. Additional resources on the specific changes required under the current rule are available from the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) at their website: http://www.atssa.com/cs/root/news_pr/retroreflectivity_media. (Leslie Wollack,wollack@nlc.org, 202.626.3029)
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