Attendees:
Brad Garmon – Michigan Environmental Council
Mary Kyle McCurdy – 1000 Friends of Oregon
John Maximuk – Liveable Communities Coalition
Bridget Jones- Cumberland Regional Tomorrow (TN)
Peter Fleischer – Empire State Future (NY)
Anita Hairston – Policylink
Katy Hartnett, Zach Smith, Elisa Ortiz – SGA
Federal Update
Thank you for your help with the Partnership for Sustainable Communities!
Unfortunately, THUD did not fund another round of grants this Fiscal year
The President will release his budget in a few weeks
The Senate EPW and Commerce committees have marked up their transportation bill, but no other committees have moved
The current surface transportation bill extension expires in March
Sen. Reid wants to move a transportation bill to the floor this spring
Policylink is organizing a sign on letter to the President and Congress in advance of the state of the union about – email Anita (anita@policylink.org) for more information by Jan. 22nd
Next Coalition Meeting – Tentative Dates are April 25 and 26, 2012, in Washington, DC
Coalition meeting on Wednesday
Lobby Day on Thursday
Send Elisa any topics or ideas that you would like to see on the agenda
Date will be confirmed soon
New Partners for Smart Growth Conference
SGA is hosting a reception and smart growth awards ceremony at New Partners for Smart Growth on Friday, February 3rd – For more information, visit the calendar on the coalition-only section of our webpage.
New SGA Press Manager (Tom Madrecki)
Contact him if you have any questions about press or media coverage on key issues at tmadrecki@smartgrowthamerica.org.
Transportation Choices Coalition Update (Andrew Austin)
Working to improve Gov. Gregoire’s (WA) transportation package to benefit more transit agencies in the state
Liveable Communities Coaltion (John Maximuk)
Organizations are beginning to mobilize education campaigns to inform people of the benefits of transit in the upcoming Georgia sales tax referendum
The coalition is also working to develop a center to serve as a resource for TOD
Empire State Future (Peter Fleischer)
Organizing a conference on Feb. 13 and 14 focused on adequate transit funding in NY and to improve rider representation in transit authorities
Will begin a big push in the coming year on affordable TOD
The next coalition call is scheduled for Thursday, February 23th at 4:00 p.m. EST
On the next call we will announce a new member benefit!