Local government officials from cities, towns and villages across the United States convened March 10-12 in Washington, D.C., for the 60th National League of Cities Congressional City Conference. More than 3,000 local leaders were in attendance to hear from Vice President J.D. Vance and members of the Trump administration, congressional leaders, NLC’s leadership and their fellow municipal officials, who discussed issues essential to cities, including the housing crisis and the effects of the myriad executive orders and funding cuts across the federal government in this administration’s first few months in power. The annual conference also gave local officials the opportunity to meet with their congressional delegations to discuss the issues facing their constituents at home.
When it comes to cities reporting their receipts and obligations of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, “You guys have homework to do,” said Arkansas Municipal League Senior Grants Counsel Caran Curry, who participated in a federal funding panel discussion during the Congressional City Conference. If the funding received is more than the obligations reported, the Trump administration has expressed its intent to claw back that balance, she said. Treasury has issued a “naughty list,” Curry said, sent to the executive directors of all state municipal leagues, of cities and towns that may be out of compliance. “Treasury told me today, upstairs at this very conference, that if you haven’t done a report, then they’re going to come after you on this one. So if you get a call or notice from your municipal league about this, please pay attention.”
“We know that good government starts at the local level,” said U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who addressed the conference on the afternoon of Monday, March 10. He focused his remarks on the nation’s housing crisis. “I think it’s the issue where [the administration’s] interests in some ways are most aligned with the people in this room.” To bring housing prices down and increase the supply, he cited a need to slash “needless regulations,” and he suggested local governments revisit their zoning laws to expedite new construction. He placed part of the blame for the crisis on rising inflation over the previous four years. Vance then claimed that the housing crisis is in large part driven by increased demand by illegal immigrants. “If you allow 20 million people to compete with American citizens for the cost of homes, you’re going to have a large and frankly completely preventable fight in the demand for housing. And that is what we of course have seen, because while we’ve made it a little bit harder to build homes in the country over the past four years, we’ve also unfortunately made it way too easy for people to compete against American citizens for the precious homes that are in our country to begin with.” He said Canada and Europe are also experiencing housing shortages because of a “massive increase in immigration.” These sentiments rankled many in the audience, and several shouted out. Vance smiled at the outburst. “I see one of our nice representatives out here wants to actually I guess continue to flood the country with illegal immigrants making your communities and cities unaffordable,” he fired back and received a mix of claps, jeers and boos.
Athens, Ohio, which is nestled in the Appalachian region of the state, has “long been not only underestimated, but oftentimes forgotten about,” said Mayor Steve Patterson, this year’s NLC president. Because of that, they’ve become resilient, he said. “I know why you find yourselves in similar positions, I do, which is why my presidential platform this year is ‘Ready and Resilient: Building Cities, Towns and Villages for the Future.’ That means uplifting small and underserved communities, and 85 percent of NLC members come from communities of 50,000 or less in population. These communities contribute so much to our economy, to our culture, to our future at the end of the day. That can’t be overlooked.” The NLC’s Local Infrastructure Hub has been instrumental in connecting cities and towns with resources and direct funding. “It’s worked,” Patterson said. “It’s worked to the tune of $534 million that is coming to communities.” The NLC is also there to help communities manage that funding, stay in compliance with federal regulations and navigate the impact of quickly evolving federal actions of the first several months of the Trump administration. Click below to access the Local Infrastructure Hub.
“85 percent of NLC members come from communities of 50,000 or less in population. These communities contribute so much to our economy, to our culture, to our future at the end of the day. That can’t be overlooked.” —Athens, Ohio, Mayor and NLC President Steve Patterson.
It’s important that city officials come to Washington, D.C., to advocate for their constituents back home, said NLC CEO and Executive Director Clarence Anthony, who is a former mayor of South Bay, Florida. The NLC has worked to build a strong partnership with the federal government, fought against unfunded mandates and helped secure direct funding to local governments, he said. “Through the pandemic, we stood up as municipal leaders. When no one else was open, you were open every day during the pandemic. And guess what? We’re not going to stop doing that, now or never, because that’s what the NLC does.” That doesn’t change with the new administration, Anthony said, and he outlined NLC’s advocacy priorities, including addressing the housing crisis, protecting the bipartisan infrastructure law that spurred historic levels of investment at the local level, streamlining complex regulations and programs, and fighting for community resilience and disaster preparation and response efforts. The local leaders at the conference also have their own issues to address, he said. Go to Capitol Hill and “lift up your voice,” Anthony encouraged. “I want you to go up there and continue to fight for those issues along with the priorities of the National League of Cities.”
“How many of you all use tax-free municipal bonds?” Savannah, Georgia, Mayor and NLC Second Vice President Van Johnson asked the audience during the conference’s closing general session on March 11. Nearly every city official in attendance raised their hand. “All of us, right? But as Congress debates its priorities for the next tax bill, the future of our beloved and heavily used tax-exempt municipal bonds remains unclear.” Tax-exempt municipal bonds are on “the chopping block” this year, moderator and Cleveland, Ohio, Council President Blaine Griffin said. And “Unlike for other tax changes being discussed this year, cities don’t have die-hard municipal bond defenders in Congress,” he said. “We need a handful of Republicans, just a handful of Republicans, to come forward and say they will not vote for a tax bill that includes the elimination of the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds.” Hattiesburg is a city of about 50,000 in southern Mississippi, and having access to tax-exempt bonds has been essential for projects like the public safety complex, municipal court building, new police and fire stations, the city’s mayor Toby Barker said. “Like many of you, we have a very squeezed general fund budget every year,” he said. “If we didn’t have tax-exempt municipal bonds, a lot of the projects that we need wouldn’t happen.”
(L-R: Cleveland, Ohio, Council President Blaine Griffin moderated a panel discussion on tax-free municipal bonds with Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Mayor Toby Barker, Government Finance Officers Association Federal Liaison Emily Brock, and Oklahoma City CFO Brent Bryant.)
“Cooperative federalism” is one of the pillars of the Environmental Protection Agency under the new administration, said newly appointed administrator Lee Zeldin, who addressed the conference on March 10. “We believe that you know your cities better than we do here in Washington,” he said. “That partnership between the federal government through states and local municipalities is key in order for us to make the right decision. We can’t keep pursuing one-size-fits-all solutions to everything.” Mitigating PFAS—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, sometimes referred to as “forever plastics”—in public water systems is a priority for the EPA, Zeldin said, and the agency aims to work with local governments on solutions that also prevent consumers from having to pay “to clean up PFAS contamination in their own communities. Being able to hear from you, to be responsive and to act quickly is a top priority.”
From extreme weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes and floods—as well as firestorms like the ones that swept across southern California earlier this year—to disasters caused by human error like the 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, local governments are at the forefront of disaster preparation and recovery, and they need a strong federal partner. It’s essential to set politics aside when disasters occur, said Moore, who thanked his state’s congressional delegation for their support when a cargo ship struck the Key Bridge, resulting in the deaths of six construction workers. He cited important advice he received from a fellow state governor. “You may want to put a political lens on certain things, and you can do that. Don’t do it with emergency management. Do not do it with disaster relief, because you will realize that very early in your tenure, you’re going to have an emergency to deal with, and you’d better make sure you have people in there who know what to do, and people in there who know how to respond and help you to respond well. I think about that with the Key Bridge.”
(L-R: Savannah, Georgia, Mayor and NLC Second Vice President Van Johnson moderated a discussion on disaster response and resilience with Maryland Governor Wes Moore and West Hollywood, California, Mayor Chelsea Byers.)
Arkansas Senators John Boozman, right, and Tom Cotton, left, visited with Arkansas’ municipal delegation in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on March 12, the final day of the conference, where they shared their thoughts on a few key issues. As Congress works on a blueprint for major tax legislation that extends existing tax cuts and potentially adds more, it is a “massive concern” for cities and towns that the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds could be targeted in order to fund those cuts, League Executive Director Mark Hayes said, and he urged the senators to support keeping it in place. “I don’t think that’s at real risk,” Cotton said. “[Sen. Boozman] and I are going to keep our eye on it.” Boozman expressed appreciation for both the local government officials and for the League. “I want to thank you all. You’ve got big jobs and a lot of responsibility and limited resources. I also understand how important your organization is.” With so much regular turnover in local offices, education is essential for continuity, he said. He also acknowledged how important it is that cities and towns collaborate to advocate for the issues that affect them. “The fact that you all band together and do such a great job of presenting a united front with some of the things that are important to you and in a very bi-partisan way I think is really important.”
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) March 11 to fund the federal government through September, Rep. Steve Womack reported to Arkansas city officials during the visit. That’s good news and bad news, he said. While passage of the CR avoids a government shutdown, it “could be characterized as a manifestation of an ineffective Congress,” he said, “and I think I can defend that claim with anybody, because one of our most fundamental duties up here is to fund the dadgum government. And if you are doing a CR it means that you have failed to pass annual appropriations. And once you do it once, it becomes easier to do it over and over again.” Operating a government like this would not be acceptable at the local level, said Womack, who is a former mayor of Rogers. “Best job I ever had was being a mayor. Best job. As a matter of fact, if I could rewrite the Constitution, in the qualifications to become a member of the House or the Senate you would have to have spent at least a term as a mayor, because mayors know how to get stuff done.”
Visit the League’s Flickr page for more photos from the Congressional Cities Conference.
