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SGA Monthly Coalition Call, Oct. 29, 2009
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.
By Elisa Ortiz, October 29, 2009
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.
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