Leaders of the National League of Cities (NLC) visited the White House to hear from President Obama on the local implications of the "fiscal cliff" and the need for swift action. NLC leadership urged administration officials to support a balanced approach to deficit reduction that includes targeted spending cuts and revenue enhancements.
Neal Peirce discusses ideas that look beyond the fiscal cliff for how to re-stoke the national economy by stimulating the best initiatives happening at the state, regional and city levels.
City, school and community leaders from 17 cities gathered in Denver last week to share ideas and lessons learned in the development of “reengagement centers,” one of the newest and most exciting models for helping dropouts come back to school and thereby boosting high school graduation rates.
The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision this week in Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States expanded the definition of a taking of property, opening the door for increased claims against local and all other levels of government.
An effort by three U.S. Senators to include a version of the Market Place Fairness Act as an amendment to a military spending bill failed last week.
At the annual Congress of Cities conference in Boston, MA this year, the NLC presented its John G. Stutz award to individuals who have served a total of 25 years of more on the staff of a state municipal league, state league risk pool, or NLC.
NLC President Marie Lopez Rogers, mayor, Avondale, AZ said November's unemployment report "shows the country moving in the right direction, though with too slow of a pace. This slow growth is reason enough to explore every possibility to avoid the fiscal cliff. Local officials have dealt with increased demands and tight budgets for years. They have found ways to act as prudent managers and make the necessary investments in their communities. It is time for Congress and the Administration to do the same."
Read excerpts from Avondale, AZ Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers' acceptance speech for the position of NLC President on December 1, 2012 at the Congress of Cities and Exposition in Boston.
The demographics of cities are changing in ways that require faster information and quicker solutions to problems. A younger, more mobile constituency base has a very different level of expectation from governments than previous generations.
Youth have more difficulty gaining a foothold in the U.S. labor market than at any time since the 1950s, according to a new KIDS COUNT policy report published today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
