CC PACKET 11221988 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Page 2 WHAT ARE NLC's LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES WITH THE NEW ADMINISTRATION & CONGRESS? The National League of Cities has set an action agenda to: • secure reauthorization of the Community Development Block Grant Program and renewed commitment for housing opportunities through a flexible direct partnership program between federal and local governments; • secure re—enactment of clean air legislation which does not impose federal sanctions on municipalities which have attempted good faith compliance; • seek adoption of legislation to require the federal government to pay for costly mandates imposed upon cities and towns; • seek legislation to reverse the new regulations mandating municipalities to pay the federal. gas tax and apply for a rebate; • enact legislation requiring vendor collection. of an estimated $2 billion in state and local sales taxes on interstate catalog and mail order sales of which local governments would receive an estimated $500 million; • protect municipal rights from any further tax reform proposals which could undercut the ability of cities and towns to raise their own revenues; • gain passage of public infrastructure legislation to help municipalities provide and finance essential public facilities. WHAT HAS THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES DONE RECENTLY ABOUT . . . TAX REFORM PROPOSALS? In addition to advocacy efforts on tax reform, NLC also has published four important studies to help municipal officials understand the impact of our national tax system on local government: Tax Breaks: An Introduction to Tax Expenditures; The Deductibility of State & Local Taxes; Your City's 1040; and The Effects of the 1986 Tax Reform Act on City Finances. Reports on tax issues also appear regularly in NLC's weekly newspaper. ISSUES BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT? NLC continues to advocate and defend municipal interests in critical cases pending in the Supreme Court. NLC also is cooperating with other concerned public interest groups in sponsoring the activities of the- State and Local • Legal Center. The Legal Center advocates the interests of state and local government before the Supreme Court and conducts programs to improve the quality of state and local government advocacy before the Court.