Inside 208

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Michigan Municipal League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin and fellow municipal leaders from across the nation called for a partnership between cities, states and the federal government to improve the country’s ailing infrastructure. Gilmartin participated in a panel discussion at the Congressional Capitol Briefing earlier today (March...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Michigan Municipal League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin will participate in a Congressional Capitol Briefing Wednesday in Washington D.C. and talk about national infrastructure issues and the Flint water crisis. Gilmartin will be part of a panel that will inform members of Congress about the most...

Last week, President Obama released his last budget proposal. However, it got the cold shoulder from Congress with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) even going so far as saying that the budget is “a progressive manual for growing the federal government at the expense of hardworking Americans.” In fact, Congress has...

Last week, President Obama released his final budget proposal and there are significant notable items for local governments. Below is a brief summary of some key items. For the entire budget you can visit the White House’s online resource, which is a pretty neat tool for exploring the proposal. The...

Last week, the  Senate passed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, H.R. 644, which included a provision that will make permanent the temporary ban on state and local government’s authority to tax internet access (the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act or PITFA). The House has already supported...

President Obama signed the FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) Act yesterday, making the first long term transportation bill in a decade official. There are some big wins for local governments within the new law, which is worth approximately $305 billion. A good, comprehensive 13 page summary of the law can be...

For the first time in ten years, Congress is on the verge of passing a long-term transportation package and there are some big wins for local governments within the new deal. The committee of House and Senate negotiators have agreed to the new bill worth approximately $305 billion, entitled the FAST...

The United States House of Representatives just took some significant action on critical issues which had been looming. They passed legislation which suspends the debt ceiling until March of 2017 and lifts budget caps set by sequestration by $80 billion through September 2017. That increase will be split evenly between...

A deal to increase the federal debt limit and set some federal budget figures has been struck by Congress and the President, according to many sources out of Washington DC. The deal would raise the debt ceiling through March 2017 and would lift sequestration caps in the budget for fiscal...

`The National League of Cities has launched Cities Lead 2016, which is a new platform for local officials to engage with Presidential candidates on important city issues. By signing up here, you can receive updated information on the campaign and send a message that you want to hear candidates address...