Telecommunications reform, immigration, and efforts to secure continued federal funding to support local initiatives including housing, transportation, and public safety are among the top issues that the National League of Cities (NLC) will bring to the 110th Congress in the coming months. Working on behalf of the nation's cities and towns, NLC also will draw focused federal attention to critical housing issues such as predatory lending, foreclosure prevention, and revamping the country's mortgage finance system.
"This is a period of transition in our country," said NLC President Bart Peterson, mayor of Indianapolis. "We want to help shape the issues. In the 70s and 80s, the federal government led the way; in the 90s the states were the stars in innovation. But it is pretty clear that in this decade, cities are where the action is. We are the centers of innovation and creative problem solving. While the federal government remains grid locked, we are moving our communities forward and can shape the policy discussions at the federal level."
NLC's federal lobbying agenda for 2007 includes protecting local authority in any reform of the Telecommunications Act, in Congress or by the Federal Communications Commission, stressing the need to provide access to all services for all constituents while protecting the public rights of way, as well as insuring that new technologies such as providing telephone service over the Internet provides adequate linkages to 911 and protects the public's safety.
