The National Association of Regional Councils’ 2017 Wrap-Up

Former NARC Executive Director William Dodge once said, “Regions are the new communities of the 21st century. They have emerged just as villages, towns, cities, and counties did before them… And now they determine our fates.”

This quote could not be timelier. As we take time to reflect on the past year and look ahead to 2018, one question has emerged more than any other: What is the role of a 21st century regional council?

Highlighting the innovative initiatives that regional councils are carrying out today and exploring where they can be leaders in their communities drove many of NARC’s activities in 2017.

A Summary of Some of NARC’s Successes Over the Last Year (2017)
  • Trees and Stormwater Website Launch: NARC (along with Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, the U.S. Forest Service, Davey Resource Group, and Centerline Strategies, LLC) launched a Trees and Stormwater website to provide local decision-makers with tools to integrate trees into stormwater management design and policy.
  • Fleets for the Future: Our S. Department of Energy-funded grant program is continuing to change the face of aggregate procurement methods for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), employing a more regional approach that regional councils can replicate.
  • MPO Coordination Rulemaking Reversal: One of NARC’s biggest advocacy victories of 2017 was bipartisan legislation to reverse the Obama administration’s MPO Coordination rulemaking, which was passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Trump.
  • Advocacy on the Hill: NARC continues to make the case for regions to congressional staff and administration officials through face-to-face visits and co-produced letters. More and more, the regional perspective is becoming an essential part of federal legislation and priorities.
  • Major Metros Roundtable: NARC formulated the Regional Major Metro Roundtable to give regional members in major metropolitan areas more opportunities to come together to discuss their greatest challenges, innovations, and ideas.
  • Strengthening Ties with National Advocacy Groups and Coalitions: NARC cultivated relationships with organizations and coalitions to find opportunities for collaboration and joint advocacy. The National League of Cities; National Association of Counties; U.S. Conference of Mayors; National Association of Development Organizations; Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce; Community Development Block Grant Coalition; Economic Development Coalition; and Campaign for Renewed Rural Development were all significant partners of ours in 2017.
  • Sharing Regional Best Practices: Our member regions’ best innovations were shared during our three annual conferences, our “regional spotlight” in eRegions and Transportation Thursdays, and our new document that compiles new projects and initiatives that regional leaders presented during Rapid-Fire Innovation Sessions at our 2014-2016 Executive Directors Conferences.

We look forward to working with our members and national partners in 2018. Our members do groundbreaking work, and we aim to support them in any way we can!

NARC Federal Budget Call Recap: Where We Are Now and What to Expect in the Fall

Senators and representatives may be home for recess, but the issues they left in Washington will be here when they return on September 5. Not only will the issues be here, but the urgency to address them will have increased significantly.

Top issues that await them include: the adoption of a federal budget, 12 appropriations bills, legislation to raise the debt ceiling, and tax reform. It is also possible that health care legislation may come up for consideration again.

This is why NARC felt it was important to host a conference call last Wednesday on the current status of the federal budget with Deborah Cox, legislative director at the National Association of Counties (NACo); Michael Wallace, program director of federal advocacy at the National League of Cities (NLC); and NARC staff. We wanted to provide you, our members, with an update on where these urgent issues stand so that you can better understand how these legislative items may impact your regions, counties, cities, and towns. We also wanted to provide you with information on how to educate your representatives and senators about the impact their decisions are likely to have on your regions and, especially, the people who live there.

Here is what you need to know:

  • Congress is faced with three important legislative deadlines in September.
  • Adoption of the 12 FY 2018 appropriations bills.
  • Passage of legislation that raises the debt ceiling.
  • Adoption of a FY 2018 budget that will pave the road for tax reform legislation.
  • The budget and appropriations process, as in years past, is behind schedule. Congressional leaders are scrambling to adopt some type of comprehensive appropriations bill by the end of September to keep the government open. More than likely, Congress will be forced to pass a temporary continuing resolution through mid-December.
  • The final appropriations bills will not be adopted until later this year or early next year. It is likely an omnibus bill incorporating all 12 appropriations bills into a single bill will be passed. The omnibus bill is expected to increase defense spending substantially while cutting some non-defense discretionary funding.
  • When appropriations legislation is bipartisan, cities, counties, and regions benefit much more. Right now, the process is very partisan and the impact on cities, counties, and regions is not likely to be positive. However, it is likely that Republicans will need Democrats to pass any omnibus appropriations bill. This will help the process become bipartisan, possibly yielding a positive outcome.
  • Legislation that permits the Treasury to borrow funds to pay the government’s bills (commonly referred to as “raising the debt ceiling”) must be passed by September 29, or there is the risk that the federal government will not be able to pay its bills. This may cause the United States to default on its debt, forcing the federal government to shut down.
  • If Congress is to move forward with tax reform, it will need to adopt a FY 2018 budget. This will provide direction on how to move forward and give the Senate authority to adopt tax reform legislation with a simple majority (51 votes) rather than a super majority (60 votes).
  • Senators and representatives drafting tax reform legislation are seriously considering eliminating the state and local tax deduction and the tax-exempt status for municipal bonds to pay for massive tax cuts.
Appropriations Specifics

NACo, NLC, and NARC staff shared that while the president proposed to eliminate funding for the weatherization assistance program, the House and Senate would fund the program at FY 2017 levels ($211.6 million). The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which the president zeroed out, would be funded by the Senate at current levels and by the House at $2.9 billion, just $100 million below current levels. For the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), which the president sought to eliminate, the House would cut funding by $100 million to $850 million. Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, which the president and the House wanted to eliminate, would be funded by the Senate at 10 percent over current levels to $550 million. Another program on the president’s list to cut drastically was New Starts, which would be funded by the House at $1.75 million and by the Senate by $2.13 billion. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which would have been eliminated had the president prevailed, would be maintained by the House at current levels ($3.4 billion). Finally, while the president would have reduced funding for workforce development programs by $1.3 billion, these programs would be cut by the House by only $300 million.

More specific funding information is provided in the table below.

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What Can Regions Do?

Speaking with your representatives and senators is critical. Underline the importance of these programs and how funding cuts would impact your programs and constituents. Another option that sends a strong message to congressional leadership is to send letters and op-eds to your local papers about the impact these cuts will have.

There are multiple ways you can educate your senators and representatives on federal budget issues:

  • Set up a meeting with your representative(s) while they are in their home district.
  • Invite your local representative(s) to attend one of your regional or coalition meetings.
  • Encourage them to visit a site financed by federal funds to highlight what is being achieved and why continuous funding is essential.
  • Bring stakeholders together and invite your representative(s) to see the faces of those impacted by programs funded by the federal budget.

Every effort you take to reach out to your representatives and senators while they are in your regions will have an impact, and ultimately, make a difference. And at a time like this, when programs are on the chopping block and Congress wants to cut domestic spending in favor of defense spending, there is no greater time to get involved.

NARC will release a larger, more expansive guide to educating your members of Congress, which we will share with membership.

Please note that NARC plans on holding these budget calls approximately once each month for as long as they are necessary. Look for emails announcing these calls as the details become available. If you have not yet joined us for one of these calls, now is your chance.

NARC would like to thank Deborah Cox, Legislative Director at NACo, and Michael Wallace, Program Director for Federal Advocacy at NLC, for their presentations during the call. For more information, please contact Maci Hurley at maci.hurley@narc.org or Neil Bomberg at neil@narc.org.

Additional Resources Mentioned on the Call include:

NARC’s Notes from the Appropriations Call

NARC’s Newsletter: eRegions

NARC’s Newsletter: Transportation Thursdays

NARC’s Blog: Regions Lead

NLC’s Fight the Cuts Advocacy Toolkit

NLC’s FY 2018 Budget Tracker

NACo’s Summer Advocacy Toolkit

NACo’s One Pager on State and Local Tax Deduction

NACo’s Municipal Bonds Toolkit

Governor Finance Officers Association’s Report: The Impact of Eliminating the State and Local Tax Deduction