League board members, staff and officials from across the state recently attended the National League of Cities Congressional Cities Conference in Washginton, DC and received a good glimpse into the roiling water that is currently the federal legislative process.
While we were there a new federal funding extension was passed so the government can stay open another three weeks. The extension again contained cuts of $2 billion a week however it was clear from our discussions with members of the Michigan congressional delegation that this would be the last extension. All admitted this was no way to run a government and at the end of the three weeks we’ll either have a solution to the 2011 budget or the government will shut down. While no one could predict the outcme, hopefully cooler heads will prevail and a compromise achieved.
This said, our meetings went well as we visited with Senators Levin and Stabenow, several members of Congress, and staff from the Governor’s DC office. We were able to impress upon them our priorities within the federal budget and our thoughts on the transportation funding reauthorization. Learn more during the League's Capital Conference when Carolyn Coleman, legislative director for the National League of Cities, will be our keynote speaker at lunch on Wednesday.
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