Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have been at the forefront of our thoughts for a couple of weeks now. We admire all the hard work our members and partners are doing to respond and recover from the recent aftermath of these catastrophic events. As many agencies, organizations, and individuals continue to provide preparedness and relief efforts…
Earlier today, NARC and other local government organizations sent a letter to the House opposing the proposed amendment (Woodall #28) to the Transportation – Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill, Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act of 2018 (H.R. 3354). The amendment would: Eliminate the exemption for STBGP and safety programs, making them subject to…
The Maine unemployment rate hit a 40-year low of three percent this spring. While some were quick to applaud political actions, others were more convinced the success had to do with workforce programs. The state has grown concerned about its shrinking population and deep skills gap, so new workforce programs are underway to connect understaffed…
In a press conference earlier today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As of today, no new applications will be processed, and renewals under this program won’t be available six months from now (to give Congress time to act). Implemented in 2012, the program allowed people who came…
A new report has been released by George Washington University to better understand the financial impacts of the 2020 Census for states and local areas. In fiscal year 2015 alone, the report shared that 50 states and D.C. received almost $600 billion from 16 large Census-guided programs, including Medicaid, Head Start, and Highway Planning and…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally proposed back in July to repeal the “waters of the United States (WOTUS)” rule under the Clean Water Act, which the agency called too vague and far-reaching. EPA is hosting a series of 10 teleconference meetings this fall to discuss how they should rewrite the rule. Nine of the…
The deadline for tax reform legislation has been pushed yet again to a later date. Roll Call reported that Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) of the Senate Finance Committee expects to pass tax reform around Christmas Eve. In an interview with Financial Times, White House Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn also predicts tax reform will be…
Interested in Environmental Impact Bonds (EIB)? Quantified Ventures and Neighborly are looking for Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for two cities to be the first to issue publicly marketed EIBs this fall. Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, Neighborly and Quantified Ventures will offer their services pro bono to help the selected cities structure, market, and underwrite…
The State of California and the City of San Francisco have filed separate lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over the Trump administration’s plans to withhold federal public safety grant funding from cities and counties that do not comply with new sanctuary city policies. They join the City of Chicago, who filed a…
In response to budget and appropriations requests for information, NARC hosted a conference call last week. Both the National Association of Counties (NACo) and National League of Cities (NLC) provided important county and city perspectives during the call. Here are some resources from the call: Call Summary Fast Facts – House Appropriations Fast Facts –…
NARC mourns the loss of Patsy Ticer, who passed away on Monday, August 7. Ms. Ticer was Alexandria, Virginia’s first female mayor, a four-term state senator, president of NARC, and chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. She held elected positions in Virginia for almost three decades, touching almost every facet of Alexandria life…
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has been working quickly to repeal a list of environmental regulations from the last administration. States and environmental groups have taken EPA to court multiple times in the last few months to block deregulations, leading to some setbacks for the agency. Last Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals…
NARC participates in the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce coalition, a collection of national organizations that advocate for federal investment in skills-building programs to improve our national workforce. On Friday the coalition submitted a letter to the chairman and ranking members on the Senate Appropriations Committee urging them to pass a Labor, Health and…
Last Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved a $60.1 billion FY2018 spending bill that provides $3.6 billion more than the House Appropriations version. The Senate total includes $550 million for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The Senate measure would provide $19.5 billion in discretionary funding for USDOT, $3.3 billion more…
Today the National Association of Regional Councils, National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, and U.S. Conference of Mayors sent a letter to members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee urging them to reauthorize and improve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program under the Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2017 (H.R. 1758). Suggested…
The U.S. Census Bureau has released new American Community Survey (ACS) estimates for detailed race, Hispanic Origin, ancestry, and tribal populations. These statistics provide the greatest level of statistical information for detailed populations. Two resources included in this release are the Selected Population Tables, which provide estimates for 416 race, Hispanic Origin, ancestry, and tribal population…
Iowa Data Bike is a proof-of-concept initiative by the Des Moines Area MPO in partnership with the Iowa Department of Public Health and Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Using an app that senses the roughness of pavement, Data Bike will generate data scoring the condition of trails, as well as collect 360-degree imagery of the trails…
Last week the House Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee, which determines funding for a range of programs important to regional councils, adopted a fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill that would make significant cuts in funding to programs established under the Older Americans Act (OAA) and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) as…
The Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization commissioned a study to examine existing and future technologies that will impact their 2045 long-range transportation plan and provide recommendations for incorporating technology. The report went through each time period until 2045 and predicted developments on a variety of topics. The report suggested that the TPO should update its travel…
In this blog post, Lyle Wray, executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments in Hartford, CT, explores community impacts of ride-sharing and solutions for working with disruptive technologies such as shared rides, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and connected vehicles. Wray suggests developing a framework for measuring impacts, forecasting, and tracking results of pilots…
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