Statewide
and national attention landed this week on the League’s call for Congress to
help local governments so financially hard-hit by COVID-19, for one with a
Raleigh News
& Observer opinion piece quoting League Executive Director Paul
Meyer to help explain the predicament. “The economic downturn created by the
coronavirus pandemic is hitting cities all across North Carolina straight
between the eyes,” the newspaper quoted of Meyer, sourced from a
League
call-to-action video. “We haven’t seen an economic downturn like
this in decades upon decades.” The first wave of federal aid in the CARES Act
hasn’t made it to cities and towns. “What’s needed is a second wave of federal
aid, this time sent directly to local governments regardless of their size,”
the N&O writes. “It’s not simply a matter of protecting full municipal
services. It’s also important for the recovery of the economy. Government
spending in a recession sustains and creates jobs.” The piece adds from League
President and Cary Council Member Jennifer Robinson: “For cities and towns to
continue to be catalysts for economic growth, revenue shortfalls created by
this pandemic must be addressed. We need assistance from Congress and from
state legislators."
The
League’s message also hit a page
in the Greenville
Daily Reflector with an op-ed from League Board Member, N.C. Mayors
Association leader and Bethel Mayor Gloristine Brown. “As retail activity has
fallen, so have sales taxes that cities and towns depend on to fund crucial
services like police and fire protection, street maintenance and sanitation. Water
and sewer systems are seeing much higher rates of non-payment as residents who
have been laid off or furloughed struggle to pay bills. With hotels
experiencing 70 and 80 vacancy rates, occupancy taxes used to promote tourism
have seen dramatic declines,” Mayor Brown wrote, adding she’s already heard
from other mayors about possible service cuts and building project delays. Hits
like these to municipal government – created by the pandemic, not government’s
own doing – spell trouble for the economy. “Study after study looking at the
aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession showed how struggling state and local
governments, required to balance their budgets, slowed a national recovery
because of their cuts,” Mayor Brown pointed out. The National League of Cities
shared the op-ed at the national level
in social media
posts.
The
League’s awareness and education campaign continues as the need not only
remains but grows. The N&O points out that there is potential in Congress
with the House’s passage of the HEROES Act, which includes close to $1 trillion
for state and local governments and a bipartisan bill in the Senate, the SMART Act,
with $500 billion. But their passage in the Senate isn’t at all assured, as
leader Mitch McConnell has suggested other routes and timelines.
It’s important to keep the
iron hot. Contact your members of Congress now and urge their support of relief
for cities and towns, the lifeblood of the economy. For more information, see
this
fact sheet
and a
letter issued
jointly by the League, the N.C. Association of County Commissioners
and the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition.
