Nation's Cities - September 5, 2011

8 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
Glaeser, from page 1
offer an up-close look at suc-
cessful programs in Phoenix
and surrounding cities, will take
place November 9, 10 and 11.
More information on these free
programs is at www.nlccongress
ofcities.org.
When registering for the
conference online, city offi-
cials can include Leadership
Training Institute seminars and
mobile workshops with their
registration.

Exhibit Hall and City
Showcase
The Exhibit Hall is anoth-
er important aspect of the
Congress of Cities, with more
than 300 vendors offering ser-
vices and products that support
cities.
NLC staff will be in the
member services booth, ready
to answer questions about NLC
and help attendees navigate the
conference.
Attendees can also visit NLC
Enterprise Program Partner
booths in the Exhibit Hall, pre-
senting programs and services
that bring solutions and savings
to cities.
The Exhibit Hall will also fea-
ture the City Showcase, NLC’s
September 5, 2011
premier program celebrating
city achievements. Program rep-
resentatives will display and dis-
cuss their successes with confer-
ence attendees, providing them
with innovative ideas for plan-
ning and problem solving in
their own communities.
Details: For more informa-
tion on the conference and to
register, visit www.nlccongress
ofcities.org.
Transportation, from page 1
investing in the nation’s infrastructure
and helping build local economies.
“The extension will prevent hundreds
of thousands of workers from being
forced off the job and keep much-
needed infrastructure projects moving
forward during this difficult economic
period,” reads the NLC statement.
NLC’s statement continued, “While
a short-term extension is necessary to
prevent disruptions, the nation needs
a long-term plan for investing in our
nation’s infrastructure and NLC urges
Congress and the President to pass the
full reauthorization during the term of
the extension. A national commitment
to infrastructure investment will employ
hundreds of thousands of workers while
improving the efficiency of the nation’s
transportation network.”
The White House acknowledged
NLC and others seek to avoid any policy changes
in the short-term extension to ensure immediate
passage and prevent any delay in distribution of
badly needed federal transportation construction
dollars.
the NLC statement and several others
on its blog last week at http://www.
whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/01/state-
and-local-leaders-call-transportation-
reauthorization.
Congress will only have four weeks to
reach agreement on a short-term exten-
sion of the federal surface transportation
bill before it expires on September 30.
The extension needs to continue the fed-
eral tax on fuel, which funds the national
highway, bridge and transit program.
There have been some rumblings from
anti-tax groups that they would oppose
extension of the gas tax and let states raise
their own transportation funds.
Sen. Thomas Coburn (R-Okla.) has
announced his opposition to provisions
contained in the current legislation that
allow state and local governments to
spend their transportation allocation on
bicycle and pedestrian pathways and
hinted that he might filibuster the bill to
prevent these provisions from remaining
in it.