Inside 208

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced they are extending the deadline for comments regarding their proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule until October 20th. The proposed rule would change the definition of “Waters of the U.S.” in the Clean Water Act, which determines jurisdiction of water bodies under the...

The National League of Cities is hosting a free webinar on May 28th. The Supreme Court’s decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway clarifies allowable prayer practices before local government bodies and state legislatures.  Join Tom Hungar, Gibson Dunn, who argued this case before the Supreme Court, Douglas Haney, City Attorney for...

Last week, the White House released it’s long term Transportation Bill. This is in the midst of a federal transportation crisis, as Congress struggles with how to address the insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund – set to run out of money by the end of the summer. It is...

Local Solutions to Pay for Your Infrastructure Projects: Infrastructure Funding & Financing This free webinar is being hosted by the National League of Cities on Tuesday, May 13th from 2:00 – 3:00. To register, click here. Investment in infrastructure is critical to the economic development of this nation.  Not only...

The programs impacting local units of government in the federal budget were all preserved, or saw small increases in the budget Congress recently approved. The budget overall increases discretionary spending to state and local governments by 4.5%, $24 billion, to a total of $492 billion. Some key local programs that...

Have you ever wanted to engage more in federal policy? Now is your chance! The National League of Cities is accepting applications for their full Policy and Advocacy Committees. There are several committees to choose form, including Community and Economic Development; Energy, Environment and Natural Resources; Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations;...

Recently, several articles have appeared that reference a “glitch” in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in which communities with more than 50 employees will be forced to provide coverage for volunteer firefighters. Since this came about, Treasury and the IRS have reviewed the information and just released a statement, saying they...

Congress is back to work after their winter break. Just before the holidays, they passed a two-year budget agreement that lifted the sequester on discretionary programs that were set to go into effect if no action was taken. Now, they have until January 15th to pass all the appropriation bills...

The US House of Representatives passed a budget agreement on their last day of session last week, entitled the Bipartisan Budget Act, on a 334-94 vote. This budget agreement set the spending levels for FYs 2014 and 2015, and is the beginning of the end of shutdown deadlines. However, Congress...

The joint House and Senate Conference Committee on the budget is having hearings to negotiate the 2014 federal budget. The deadline to reach an agreement is December 13. However, as has been the case all year, significant differences remain between House Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Chairwoman Patty Murray...