Nation's Cities - September 19, 2011

6 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
September 19, 2011

Policy, from page 3

Department of Treasury Neighborhood
Revitalization Initiative, which is focused
on comprehensive neighborhood
improvement; and the newest initia-
tive, Strong Cities, Strong Communities,
through which federal government rep-
resentatives are partnering with city offi-
cials in city halls to help build capacity
to advance local economic development
visions.
Following are highlights of the indi-
vidual Policy and Advocacy Steering
Committee meetings. For more informa-
tion on the committees and the meet-
ings, go to www.nlc.org.

earlier this spring to examine broadband
deployment and local rights of way prac-
tices. The resolution expresses NLC’s
commitment to broadband deployment
throughout communities.

Transportation and
Infrastructure Services (TIS)
U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary John Porcari speaks to a group of NLC policy
committee members meeting in New Orleans.
Community and Economic
Development (CED)

The CED Steering Committee, led by
vice chairs Neal Andrews, councilmem-
ber, Ventura, Calif., and Jim Fairchild,
council member, Dallas, Ore., focused
on sustainable development practices and
trends in finance for community devel-
opment projects.
In addition to a joint discussion
with the FAIR, TIS, and EENR Policy
Steering Committees that focused on
sustainable development, regional and
multi-jurisdictional collaboration, and
access to credit and alternative financ-
ing for infrastructure and other projects,
Michelle Whetten, vice president, Gulf
Coast, Enterprise Community Partners,
Inc., made a presentation to the com-
mittee on how her organization raises
capital from private enterprises to invest
in public/private partnerships.
For example, Whetten pointed to a
redevelopment project in New Orleans
— Lafitte, a largely dilapidated public
housing complex that was devastated by
Hurricane Katrina. After the complex
was razed, Enterprise provided financing
and technical expertise, in cooperation
with local and federal stakeholders, to
oversee a transformation that will include
both affordable rental and owner-occu-
pied housing. Although Lafitte is an
example of a large-scale project, accord-
ing to Whetten, Enterprise has experi-
ence providing financing for all sizes of
developments.
Before adjourning, CED committee
members also recommended for renewal
two resolutions that will be considered
in Phoenix. One calls on Congress to
support federal policies that encourage
energy-efficient “green” affordable hous-
ing, and the second calls on Congress
to support federal policies that incent
sustainable development.
Electricity at the U.S. Department of
Energy. Lightner offered an overview of
smart grid technology and spoke of both
challenges and federal efforts underway
as a result of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act.
In addition to the presentation, the
committee approved new policy lan-
guage relating to climate change adap-
tation, natural gas, nuclear energy and
emergency preparedness, product stew-
ardship and electronic waste, invasive
species, natural resources on public lands
and smart grid technology.
The committee also renewed several
existing policy resolutions, and approved
two new resolutions relating to the 2012
Farm Bill and supporting the One Health
initiative, which recognizes the relation-
ships among the environment, food sys-
tems, animal health and human health.

Committee on Deficit Reduction, also
known as “the super committee,” is
scheduled to begin its work this month.

The 12-member bipartisan super com-
mittee, which consists of six members
from each chamber, three Republicans
and three Democrats, was created as part
of the recently enacted Budget Control
Act that authorized an increase in the
federal debt ceiling. The law requires
the panel to recommend cuts savings
of at least $1.5 trillion over 10 years by
Thanksgiving, which would then be put
to a vote by Congress by December 23.
If the super committee fails to agree to a
set of cuts or Congress fails to adopt its
recommendation, spending cuts worth
$1.2 trillion over 10 years will be auto-
matically imposed.
Representatives from the New
Orleans Regional Planning Committee,
the area metropolitan planning body,
made presentations to TIS Steering
Committee members on regional initia-
tives that are underway in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina, and due to New
Orleans’ unique location as a freight
hub. Joanna Liberman Turner, deputy
assistant secretary for intergovernmental
affairs, DOT, also briefed the commit-
tee on the transportation components
of the President’s jobs proposal and
the department’s popular Transportation
Investment Generating Economic
Recovery grants.
In addition to the presentations, the
committee, which is chaired by David
Sander, council member, Rancho
Cordova, Calif., updated a resolution
on transportation reauthorization and
policies on freight, transportation credit
programs and regulatory streamlining.

Public Safety and Crime
Prevention (PSCP)
Finance, Administration and
Intergovernmental Affairs
(FAIR)
Information Technology and
Communications (ITC)
Energy, Environment, and
Natural Resources (EENR)