News

4:00PM EST

Attendance
Will Schroeer, Geoff Anderson, Stephanie Potts, Sara Wolfson, Rayla Bellis- Smart Growth America
Rick Jacobus, Community Revitalization Consultant
Amanda Robert-
April Putney-Futurewise
Dru Schmidt-Perkins—1,000 Friends of MD
Edward Oser-
Josh Karns—10,000 Friends of PA
Judy Schwank—10,000 Friends of PA
Kevin Doyle—Livable Communities Coalition
Linda Gobberdiel—1,000 Friends of Iowa
Shelby Mertes-Partnership for Strong Communities

Federal Policy Updates

• Senate Climate Bill
  • As of Oct. 23, the Senate Climate Bill introduced by Senators Kerry and Boxer includes an average of 2.4% in allocations for transportation and smart growth over the life of the bill, an improvement from the 1% included in the House Legislation.  Half of this funding will go toward transit, and the other half will go toward a mode-neutral competitive grant program.  The latest version of the bill also includes strong transportation policy language and a national greenhouse gas reduction goal for transportation.
  • Many groups with different interests are trying to get funding from this bill, so the increase to 2.4% should be considered a success.  However, it is important to make sure that our interests continue to be addressed and that the 2.4% doesn’t get partially eaten up in the coming weeks by other groups’ interests.
• Representative Blumenauer recently announced the launch of the Livable Communities Task Force.  The Livable Communities Act will hopefully be introduced in the House soon.
• Congress has approved the Fiscal Year 2010 Interior and Environment appropriations bill.  The bill includes an increase of $4.7 billion in discretionary budget authority from the Fiscal Year 2009, up to $32.2 billion for 2010.  The bill allocates $10.3 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency, including $5.146 million for the EPA’s Smart Growth Office.
• Other updates
  • Continuing to work on the Complete Streets Bill in the Senate and the House
  • Today (Thursday, Oct. 29) there is a Congressional Briefing on the Regeneration Act which will hopefully result in more people signing on.
  • Lobby day
    • Thank you to all who participated.
  • For more information and updates:
    • Go to www.smartgrowthamerica.org
    • Go to ‘Advocacy Center’ (one of the tabs along the top)
    • Go down to the bottom left where it says ‘The Word out of Washington.’  You can select which update you would like to view by date.

Reminders: November’s call will be on 11/19 at 4:00 pm.

To watch the Preserving Affordability as a Smart Growth Strategy webinar, click here.