4:00PM EST
Attendance
Will Schroeer, Geoff Anderson, Stephanie Potts, Sara Wolfson, Rayla Bellis- Smart Growth America
Rick Jacobus, Community Revitalization Consultant
Amanda Robert-
April Putney-Futurewise
Dru Schmidt-Perkins—1,000 Friends of MD
Edward Oser-
Josh Karns—10,000 Friends of PA
Judy Schwank—10,000 Friends of PA
Kevin Doyle—Livable Communities Coalition
Linda Gobberdiel—1,000 Friends of Iowa
Shelby Mertes-Partnership for Strong Communities
Federal Policy Updates
Senate Climate Bill
As of Oct. 23, the Senate Climate Bill introduced by Senators Kerry and Boxer includes an average of 2.4% in allocations for transportation and smart growth over the life of the bill, an improvement from the 1% included in the House Legislation. Half of this funding will go toward transit, and the other half will go toward a mode-neutral competitive grant program. The latest version of the bill also includes strong transportation policy language and a national greenhouse gas reduction goal for transportation.
Many groups with different interests are trying to get funding from this bill, so the increase to 2.4% should be considered a success. However, it is important to make sure that our interests continue to be addressed and that the 2.4% doesn’t get partially eaten up in the coming weeks by other groups’ interests.
Representative Blumenauer recently announced the launch of the Livable Communities Task Force. The Livable Communities Act will hopefully be introduced in the House soon.
Congress has approved the Fiscal Year 2010 Interior and Environment appropriations bill. The bill includes an increase of $4.7 billion in discretionary budget authority from the Fiscal Year 2009, up to $32.2 billion for 2010. The bill allocates $10.3 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency, including $5.146 million for the EPA’s Smart Growth Office.
Other updates
Continuing to work on the Complete Streets Bill in the Senate and the House
Today (Thursday, Oct. 29) there is a Congressional Briefing on the Regeneration Act which will hopefully result in more people signing on.
Lobby day
Thank you to all who participated.
For more information and updates:
Go to www.smartgrowthamerica.org
Go to ‘Advocacy Center’ (one of the tabs along the top)
Go down to the bottom left where it says ‘The Word out of Washington.’ You can select which update you would like to view by date.
Reminders: November’s call will be on 11/19 at 4:00 pm.
To watch the Preserving Affordability as a Smart Growth Strategy webinar, click here.