NLC has launched an innovative, two-year pilot program called Local Interventions for Financial Empowerment through Utility Payments (LIFT-UP) that seeks to help low-income families pay their utility bills and achieve financial stability.
Columnist Neal Peirce writes that the impact of unhealthy foods is likely to ricochet alarmingly, escalating local public health and pension costs, making military and police forces less fit, and most alarming of all, imposing huge added fiscal burdens on such programs as Medicaid and Medicare.
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) filed for cloture on S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act, which could be voted upon as early as Monday, April 22, 2013
NLC President Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers responds to Monday's Senate cloture vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act: "We are pleased the Senate today took another monumental step forward towards enacting the Marketplace Fairness Act. The bipartisan support for this crucial bill will go a long way towards equal footing between Main Street and online retailers."
After months of negotiations, the Senate Gang of 8 introduced an immigration overhaul bill, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, last week. Hearings have been scheduled before the Senate Judiciary Committee and lawmakers hope to have the bill to the full Senate this summer.
Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) are drafting legislation that would reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), according to Senate staff. NLC has been actively urging the Congress to reauthorize WIA so that it reflects the changing American workplace and the skills needs of employers and employees alike.
On Thursday, April 19, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) pulled S.649, the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013 from consideration by the Senate following three days of heated debate and significant pushback by the opponents of gun safety legislation.
Stephen Goldsmith, the former mayor of Indianapolis and deputy mayor of New York City, has launched a new website, “Data-Smart City Solutions,” to help local leaders transform the way government operates.
The NBC-LEO Foundation Fellows Program is an annual program designed to cultivate a new generation of African American municipal leaders. Applications are now available to apply for this educational and mentorship program.
U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance launched a new website this week with improved design and features.
