News

In this issue:

• Federal Policy Update
• Urgent: Send letters to your Members of Congress in support of programs of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities
• Brownfields Reauthorization Bill introduced in the Senate – Let us know if you have sent a co-sponsor letter
• New Complete Streets Resources: State Legislation Toolkit, Policy Analysis
• Register now for the Safe Routes to School National Conference in Sacramento, CA – Aug. 13-15, 2013
• Survey from the State Smart Transportation Initiative on freight transportation demand (TDM) strategies

Federal Policy Update

Last week, the President proposed his budget for FY14. The President’s budget includes moving the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities to the Community Planning and Development section of HUD and renaming it the Office of Economic Resilience (OER). The budget also proposed $75 million in funding for OER to give out “Integrated Planning and Investment Grants.”

The EPA also saw a budget cut with an overall proposed budget of $8.2 billion (down from $8.496 billion in 2012), while the DOT budget includes $50 billion in immediate transportation spending across a number of modes.

Members of Congress are also being asked to submit their programmatic requests to the Appropriations Committee by April 26. These are essentially ‘wishlists’ of key programs within each Department that the Members want to get funded. In the budget fight that is already brewing, it is important for Members to state their preferences early so that those programs don’t get axed.

For a full analysis of the President’s budget proposal, visit Smart Growth America’s blog.

Urgent: Send Letters to your Members of Congress supporting programs of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities

Within the next week and a half – by Friday, April 26 – we need you to send letters to your Representatives and Senators asking them to add the new OER office to their programmatic request list and to continue to support the Smart Growth Office at EPA. Please download our template letter that you can customize with your representative or senator’s names and DC addresses to send by April 26th.

All letters should be directed to the Members appropriations staffer (if available) or housing and/or environment staffer. If you’d like contact information for that person, please contact Jeri Mintzer directly. When you email the letter, please CC Elisa Ortiz and Katy Hartnett.

We are targeting specific Members of Congress in many of your states. If your representatives are part of that list, we will be in contact with you in the next day or two with a more targeted ask. If we don’t reach out to you directly within the next couple of days, please just send letters to as many members of your delegation as you can (especially those with which you have a good relationship). If you want suggestions/targets, please let us know.

Brownfields Reauthorization Bill introduced in the Senate – Let us know if you have sent a co-sponsor letter

Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ), Inhofe (R-OK), Udall (D-NM) and Crapo (R-ID) introduced a brownfields reauthorization bill, the BUILD Act,  on Thursday, March 7th.

Some highlights of the bill include:

The Complete Streets Coalition has released a new State Legislation Toolkit and the 2012 Complete Streets Policy Analysis

The National Complete Streets Coalition released two new resources that will help advance your Complete Streets efforts. The new Complete Streets in the States: A Guide to Legislative Action, produced in collaboration with AARP, is an advocacy-oriented guide for stakeholders looking to advance Complete Streets legislation in their state houses and with their DOTs. Model legislation, strategic guidance and short implementation-focused case studies are included.

On April 8th, the Coalition released its annual policy analysis report. The report highlights those communities that have adopted well-written policies in accordance with the ten elements of an ideal Complete Streets policy.

Contact Stefanie Seskin if you have any questions about the new resources.

Register now for the Safe Routes to School National Conference in Sacramento, CA – Aug. 13-15, 2013

Registration is now open for the Safe Routes to School National Conference. Learn how Safe Routes to School programs across the nation are changing the habits of an entire generation of schoolchildren while improving the health and environment of numerous communities. This fourth national conference will feature workshop sessions, mobile tours, inspirational presentations, and networking opportunities to help you start or expand your SRTS program.

This bi-annual conference is sponsored by the National Center for Safe Routes to School (NCSRTS) and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership (SRTSNP), with the 2013 event being hosted by the Local Government Commission (LGC). The LGC has partnered with several local, regional, and statewide agencies and organizations that reflect the range and diversity of the topic itself.

Visit the Safe Routes to School National Conference website to learn more about the conference and to register.

Survey from the State Smart Transportation Initiative on freight transportation demand (TDM) strategies

The State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) is conducting a survey to better understand how state, local, and regional governments are using freight transportation demand management (TDM) strategies to improve urban freight transportation and lessen its negative impacts on their communities. They are also interested in the opportunities and barriers that they have faced in implementation. The findings from this survey will be incorporated into a report with discussion and case studies of TDM strategies to reduce the negative impacts of urban goods movement on society in the hopes that these strategies can assist state, regional, and local decision makers in their planning efforts.

The survey can be found on the SSTI’s website.