Last night, our partners at the National League of Cities reached out asking for communities around the country to engage with their members of Congress to urge support for the passage of HR 6467. This bill provides direct federal aid to local governments around the country.  NLC has coupled this call to action with the release of survey results they compiled to gauge the impact that the current pandemic is expected to have on local governments and the services they provide to residents. MML member engagement this week is critical as news reports out of Washington, DC continue to highlight the ongoing negotiations between the Administration and Senate Democrats to couple additional small business paycheck protection program support with more direct spending on state and local governments.  Please click on NLC’s Take Action link below to help support this effort!

Support Bipartisan Legislation for Direct Local COVID-19 Funding

The majority of America’s cities, towns and villages are not eligible for direct relief under the CARES Act, due to the 500,000 population threshold.

The United States Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities conducted a joint survey to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cities and towns from more than 2,400 local officials. The resulting infographic and fact sheet paint an urgent picture that Congress cannot ignore.

Our message is already being heard—the Washington Post and Associated Press published articles this morning.

The House has offered a proposal to address this specific funding issue by introducing the Coronavirus Community Relief Act (H.R. 6467), a bill to provide $250 billion in funding to all local governments with fewer than 500,000 residents. We need you to ACT NOW to build momentum.

Reach out to your members in the House to ask them to support this bipartisan legislation.

Chris Hackbarth is the League’s director of state & federal affairs. He can be reached at 517-908-0304 and [email protected].