Category Archives: Federal

Local Infrastructure Report Released by National League of Cities

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The National League of Cities released a new report Paying for Local Infrastructure in a New Era of Federalism.  Declining funding, increasing mandates and misaligned priorities at the federal and states levels have put responsibility for infrastructure on local governments. But what ability do cities have to take up this call? The authority of cities to meaningfully address growing infrastructure challenges is bound by levers authorized to them by their states. The report finds that cities are limited in the number and scope of tools they are authorized to use, and that access to these tools is highly uneven in states across the country.

Summer Minnick is the Director of External Relations and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

Flint Aid Package Awaits Action in US Senate

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Recently, Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters introduced legislation, along with Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and many others, to provide additional resources for water infrastructure in light of the crisis in Flint. The legislation, S. 2579, would provide:

  • $100 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund for any state, such as Michigan, that receives an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act due to a public health threat from lead or other contaminants in a public drinking water supply system;
  • $70 million for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) for low-interest loans for large water and wastewater infrastructure projects nationwide; and
  • $50 million to support public health initiatives, such as lead poisoning prevention, research and health assistance.

A more robust description is attached below. The bill is currently “attached” as an amendment to an energy bill in the Senate. The hold up of its passage is Senator Lee (R-UT), who has placed a “hold” on the legislation, a procedural move prevent a vote. The National League of Cities is asking cities across the country to contact their Senators to help apply pressure and send a message that all cities stand together on the Flint crisis. We are hopeful that negotiations which are occurring while the Senate is on break will result in a positive outcome when they return next week.

DRINKING WATER SAFETY AND INFRASTRUCTURE ACT – Summary (3 1)

Summer Minnick is the Director of External Relations and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

EPA extends Comment Period for Proposed “Waters of the U.S.” Rule

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced they are extending the deadline for comments regarding their proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule until October 20th. The proposed rule would change the definition of “Waters of the U.S.” in the Clean Water Act, which determines jurisdiction of water bodies under the CWA, impacting permitting and other CWA requirements.

Under the proposed rule, all tributaries and adjacent waters would  be considered jurisdictional, as well as “other waters” that would have to meet a “significant nexus” threshold in order to fall into that category as well.  There are other changes that you can find by going to the National League of Cities resource page here and scrolling down to the Clean Water Act portion.

Communities can submit comments for this rule, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0880 online by clicking here or by emailing ow-docket@epa.gov and including EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0880 in the subject line of the message.

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

House Appropriations Committee Votes to Cut CDBG Funds in Half

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The US House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development voted to cut Community Development Block grant (CDBG) funding to communities in half from $3.08 Billion in 2013 to $1.6 Billion in 2014. This reduction is on top of the cuts from the sequester. An amendment by Rep. Fattah (D-PA) would have restored the funding to $3.3 Billion, but was defeated along a party line vote. Please contact your Congressional Representatives and tell them how important CDBG funding is – and that communities cannot absorb a 50% reduction. For Contact information for your Congressional leaders, click here.

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiaves and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

Contact Your Congressional Representative to Move Marketplace Fairness in House

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Now that the Marketplace Fairness bill, referred to also as the online sales tax parity issue, has moved to the US House of Representatives, local officials need to be contacting their Congressional Representative to urge them to move the bill. Currently, the House introduced bill, H.R. 684, is in the House Judiciary Committee. But, while the bill is not up for the full House yet, we still need to communicate with our delegation so they know how important this issue is to local communities. You can get contact information for your member of Congress here.  This parity would bring hundreds of millions in lost revenue back to Michigan! Urge your Congressperson to Support the Marketplace Fairness Bill!

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiaves and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

Federal Tax Exemption In Danger; Contact Your Congressional Leaders!

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As Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Dave Camp held his first hearing on the impact of tax reform on local governments this week. As part of this discussion, Congress is considering eliminating the federal tax exempt status of municipal bonds. We continue to need your help! If you have not done so already, please contact your member of Congress and tell them how important the federal exemption is to your community. We have been working closely with the National League of Cities, and have included information for you to assist on this important issue. Attached is a sample letter you can send to your member of Congress, a report on the importance of this issue, and a resolution which was introduced this week in support of the 100th anniversary of the municipal bond federal exemption, which you can also ask your member of Congress to sign onto. Everyone in Michigan is in a unique postion on this issue since the Chairman and ranking member Sander Levin are both from Michigan. Even if you are not in those two districts, you can urge your member to contact either of them on how critical this issue is. You can get Congressional contact information here. This issue is far from over and we must continue to make the case for this critical policy.

You can also find additional resources from the NLC by clicking here.

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at sminnick@mml.org or 517-908-0301.

H Res 112

Muni Bond Report

Sample Letter