Official Publication of the National League of Cities OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES
NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
Volume 34, Number 21 | may 30, 2011
IN THIS ISSUE
www.nlc.org
PAGE 3
PAGE 3
NLC Urges Congress to Support Public
Safety Communications
PAGE 3
Challenge Grants to Bolster State Early
Learning Systems
PAGE 4
NLC Committee Focuses on
Economic Growth
NEWS ANALYSIS
A Changing Paradigm: Cities and Regions Embracing
Global Interdependence
by Christiana McFarland
This analysis by NLC staff also
appears on NLC’s blog, www.
citiesspeak.org. Visit the blog for
more posts on issues important
to cities.
Distrustful, inward-looking
and even smug … U.S. local
officials have been called it all
when it comes to describing
their attitudes toward strength-
ening global economic interde-
pendence. And this is part of a
broader story about the U.S.,
that we are unwilling to look to
global partners to help restore
economic growth.
Perhaps in certain places at
certain times this is justified,
as noted by Neal Peirce in his
recent column. We know fed-
eral government resources and
vision are sorely lacking in this
arena, but as with most criti-
Participants in last month’s Leadership Academy on Local Economic Competitiveness speak with Chinese local officials
and business executives./ Photo by Steve Schneider
cal community issues, it is the
work of cities, the innovations
of those at the grassroots, which
drive change.
see page 7, column 1
Proposed Cuts Would Do Harm to Cities
by Carolyn Coleman
Newspaper Handling
Last week, the House Appropriations
Committee approved fiscal year 2012
spending limits, known as 302(b)s,
for each of the 12 Appropriations
Subcommittees that amount to nearly
$47 billion less in available funding
for federal programs important to cit-
ies and towns and the residents local
governments serve.
In urging the committee to support
the limits, Committee Chairman Hal
Rogers (R-Ky.) stressed the importance
of restoring fiscal order.
“These 302(b)s are a reflection of the
need to pare down government spend-
ing to smart and sustainable levels,”
Rogers said in his opening statement
during last week’s committee hearing.
“We are once again called up to make
reductions of historic magnitude.
see page 8, column 1
