In this issue:
Reminder: Coalition Call on Thursday, October 27th at 4pm eastern
Federal Policy Update
New Report: Outlines Problems with Widely Used Local Economic Development Tool
Briefing: Small City Transportation Solutions
Reminder: Coalition Call on Thursday, October 27th at 4pm eastern
This month’s coalition call will provide updates on some of Smart Growth America’s newest projects. The call will be on Thursday, October 25th at 4pm EST on this conference line: 712-432-0111, 668783#.
Federal Policy Update (Katy Hartnett)
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee announced last week they would mark up their two-year transportation reauthorization bill on November 9th. Their legislation would keep funding at the current levels, indexed for inflation. The Senate Finance Committee has been working to identify a source of additional revenue to meet the $12 billion shortfall in needed funding.
Last week the Senate began consideration of a “minibus” appropriations bill, which includes the FY2012 Agriculture; Commerce, Justice, Science; and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development measures. This legislation included $90 million in funding for HUD’s work with the Partnership for Sustainable Communities and $550 million in funding for DOT’s TIGER grant program. No amendments were offered to cut funding for either of these programs. The Senate will be on recess next week and is expected to vote on final passage of the minibus the week of October 31st.
The Senate Appropriations Committee released its FY2012 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill on October 14th. Funding levels for the EPA’s Office of Smart Growth were not specifically called out in the legislation but SGA has been talking with the Appropriations Committee about the importance of continued funding. Committee staff have assured us that Subcommittee Chair Reed supports continued funding. It is not likely, however, that the Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the legislation. Instead, the FY2012 Interior and Environment bill will probably be considered as part of a larger appropriations bill.
New Report: Outlines Problems with Widely Used Local Economic Development Tool
This week, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S.PIRG) released a new report about problems with the way municipalities use tax-increment financing (TIF) as a tool to court investment. The report, “Tax-Increment Financing: The Need for Increased Transparency and Accountability in Local Economic Development Subsidies,” also offers recommendations for reform. Click here to view the executive report and learn more.
Briefing: Small City Transportation Solutions
The Northeast-Midwest Institute will hold a briefing on Tuesday, November 1st. Take this opportunity to learn about unique transportation challenges facing small cities, successful projects, and how federal agencies and policymakers are taking city transportation issues into account. More information is available here on their website.