Protected: SGA Coalition Update – 3/7/11
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Uncategorized
SGA Asks: What makes your neighborhood great?
Mondays just got a little bit better. Starting this week, Smart Growth America will pose a question to our readers to encourage discussion about smart growth ideas in neighborhoods across America. You can engage in the dialogue by commenting on our Facebook page or through Twitter with @SmartGrowthUSA. If you’re not already a fan or a follower, be sure to sign up so you can participate.
Later in the week, we will compile your responses and post them to our blog – providing a diversity of thoughts and opinions on smart growth issues. We’re excited to hear your stories and share them with all of our readers!
This week’s inaugural question: What makes your neighborhood great?
An open letter in support of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities
| Daniel Inouye, Chairman U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations United States Capitol, Room S-128 Washington, DC 20510 |
Thad Cochran, Vice Chairman U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations United States Capitol, Room S-206 Washington, DC 20510 |
| Patty Murray, Chair Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, Urban Development and Related Agencies Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 133 Washington, DC 20510 |
Susan Collins, Ranking Member Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation Housing, Urban Development and Related Agencies Hart Senate Office Building, Room 123 Washington, DC 20510 |
Dear Appropriations Leaders:
Congress’ decisions about the federal budget can have immense implications for communities across America and their ability to rebuild local economies and improve fiscal stability. As you consider this year’s difficult budget decisions, we, the undersigned group of concerned organizations, urge you to support the federal programs that keep communities strong, healthy and economically vibrant.
Specifically, we urge you to support the Partnership for Sustainable Communities and related grant programs in the FY11 continuing resolution and the FY12 appropriations process.
The Partnership for Sustainable Communities helps community leaders get the most out of each federal or state dollar invested in their neighborhoods. These programs make federal investments go even further by helping local leaders leverage private sector investment, save money in municipal budgets and by helping families save on things like transportation – all while creating jobs. Our organizations strongly support these programs, including:
- Continued funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Communities Initiative, which provides Regional Planning Grants and Community Challenge Grants that help communities to leverage private sector investment, improve strategic growth, streamline regulatory barriers and make strategic investments with limited taxpayer dollars.
- Continued funding for the Department of Transportation’s TIGER program in FY11, which strengthens the economy, creates jobs, reduces gridlock, and provides safe, low-cost transportation choices to our citizens.
- The full commitment of obligated funds to grants received by more than 87 regions around the country under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Communities Initiative and the Department of Transportation’s TIGER program in FY09 and FY10.
We acknowledge that this year’s budget decisions are difficult ones and that Congress needs to cut wasteful spending, but the Partnership for Sustainable Communities helps the federal government work smarter. The Partnership is a vital opportunity to effectively coordinate and leverage federal programs for the greatest long-term benefit to our communities. Cutting these programs would be a short-sighted solution to the budget shortfall, and one which would stunt the economic growth of regions currently benefitting from the program.
We urge you to support the Partnership for Sustainable Communities in the FY11 continuing resolution and the FY12 appropriations process.
Sincerely,
| American Institute of Architects American Planning Association American Public Transportation Association American Society of Landscape Architects Apollo Alliance Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Audubon International Center for Community Progress Center for Neighborhood Technology Center for Rural Strategies CEOs for Cities Coalition of Urban Serving Universities Congress for the New Urbanism Denver Housing Authority Enterprise Community Partners Environmental and Energy Study Institute Friends of the Earth Good News Mountaineer Garage Institute for Transportation and Development Policy International Downtown Association League of Rural Voters Local Government Commission Local Initiatives Support Corporation LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors Low Income Investment Fund Mercy Housing Metropolitan Planning Council National Association of Area Agencies on Aging National Association of Local Government Environment Professionals National Complete Streets Coalition |
National Fair Housing Alliance National Housing Conference National Housing Trust National Resources Defense Council National Trust for Historic Preservation National Wildlife Federation OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon Oregon Public Health Institute Partnership for Working Families PolicyLink Prevention Institute Project for Public Spaces Public Health Law & Policy Quitman County Development Organization Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Reconnecting America RiverStone Health Safe States Alliance Sierra Club Smart Growth America Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments The Partnership for Working Families TOD Associates TransForm Transportation for America U.S. Green Building Council U.S. PIRG Upstream Public Health |
cc:
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Click here to download a copy of this letter (PDF)
Speak out! Ask your Senators to protect federal support of local smart growth efforts
Last week, the House of Representatives voted to cut funding for innovative transportation and development programs that help communities across the country build stronger economies, create jobs and provide transportation choices for the 21st century. The Senate will soon be faced with the same decision and we need your help to make sure these crucial programs are preserved for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Speak out for federal support of local smart growth efforts: send a letter to your Senators today.
Among the cuts proposed are funds for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an unprecedented collaboration between three federal agencies that helps communities across the country implement their smart growth plans. The Partnership helps community leaders get the most out of each federal or state dollar invested in their neighborhoods. By leveraging private sector investment, saving money in municipal budgets, helping families save on things like transportation and creating jobs, programs like the Partnership for Sustainable Communities make sure federal funds go as far as possible.
Protected: SGA Monthly Coalition Call Notes – 2/24/11
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Building for the 21st Century: American support for sustainable communities
A recent poll by Smart Growth America has found that in the midst of a struggling U.S. economy, support for smart growth strategies remains high among Americans across the country and on both sides of the political aisle.
The poll focused specifically on support for sustainable communities: urban, suburban or rural communities that have more housing and transportation choices, are closer to jobs, shops or schools, are more energy independent and help protect clean air and water. Making communities more sustainable means generating more jobs, lowering housing and transportation costs and using limited public funds more wisely.
As the U.S. economy incrementally recovers, Americans want the federal government to stop spending into deficit and use the money it does have more effectively. Smart growth strategies do just that by reducing infrastructure costs at the state and federal level, strengthening local and state revenues and building economic wealth by investing in existing communities.
New report from Brookings Institution advocates for road repair and maintenance
The Brookings Institution hosted an event this morning titled “State Roads to Economic Recovery: Policies, Pavements, and Partnership.” The multi-panel event was organized in conjunction with the release of “Fix it First, Expand it Second, Reward it Third – A New Strategy for America’s Highways,” a new report from the Hamilton Project analyzing the impact of state and national transportation infrastructure investments.
Report coauthors Matt Kahn, Professor of Economics at UCLA, and David Levinson, of the University of Minnesota, presented their proposal to a packed crowd. Over 80% of the current U.S. highway system, they explained, was built before 1972 – almost forty years ago. Kahn and Levinson recommend a three-step approach to maintain this aging infrastructure: fix it first, expand it second and reward it third. By focusing on fixing existing infrastructure before creating new, states can boost their economy and maximize the number of jobs created.
As Bruce Katz, Vice President and Director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, highlighted, state governments are currently under tremendous pressure to transform their economies. Katz identified transportation infrastructure as a crucial future investment to drive growth in metro regions across the country. Robert Puentes, Senior Fellow at Brookings, highlighted how transit systems are necessary to, “move goods, ideas and workers quickly and efficiently.”
Protected: SGA Coalition Update – 2/22/11
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Working for better transportation options in Washington state
A new campaign in Washington is fighting to improve transportation for people across the state. Transportation for Washington, a project launched this week by Smart Growth America’s coalition partners Futurewise and the Transportation Choices Coalition, is calling for better repair and maintenance of roads across the state as well as more transportation choices for Washingtonians. These transportation spending strategies – which are in line with many of Smart Growth America’s recent recommendations for Washington – create jobs, spur economic growth and improve Washington’s transportation system at the same time.
Roger Millar, Director of Smart Growth America’s Leadership Institute, discussed these same issues with Ross Reynolds on KUOW-94.9 Seattle’s The Conversation earlier this week. Together with Mike Ennis, Director of the Center for Transportation at the Washington Policy Center, Millar discussed the state of Washington’s transportation system and how the state can get more out of their transportation dollars:
Funding for public transportation is currently a hot topic in Washington state. A bill recently introduced to the state legislature would allow local transit agencies to seek funding to finance public transit projects. According to the Washington Transportation Commission, Washington currently has over $200 billion in unfunded transportation projects – and that need is growing.
Tell Congress: Don't balance the budget at the cost of our communities!
Leaders in the House of Representatives declared their plans this week to cut funds to many key programs that create jobs, strengthen communities and lay the groundwork to keep America competitive in the 21st century.
Tell the House of Representatives: Don’t balance the budget at the cost of our communities!
In a time of financial straits, Congress does need to cut wasteful and outdated programs – but it is unacceptable that effective programs that help rebuild our economy are being considered for elimination.
Among the cuts on the butcher’s block are funds that help our rural, suburban and urban communities create more housing and transportation choices near jobs, shops and schools, support our local economies and protect the environment.