City Leaders Seek Legislative Support

RALEIGH, NC – Mayors from 20 of the largest cities in North Carolina met in Raleigh on Wednesday and Thursday in an effort to call attention to legislation impacting cities. The mayors have a long-standing effort to seek state support to create jobs, improve transportation, protect the environment and strive to make North Carolina’s urban areas more competitive in a global economy. During a press conference here in the state’s capital, the mayors threw their support behind several bills and questioned the need for a couple others. They focused their legislative work in three key areas:

Jobs
Expanding the State’s Job Development Investment Grant program – a successful state program that is bringing high paying jobs to NC. The mayors call on the legislature to expand this program and lift the 2005 sunset.
Authorize Research and Development Tax credits under the Bill Lee Act – to help attract the high tech and high paying jobs associated with these activities.
Tourism Investment Program (HB 1316) – creates a partnership between local and state government so that locals can get help in building tourist related projects that benefit our state’s economy.

Transportation
Changes to the Highway Trust Fund (SB 1080) – while this bill includes some potentially important changes to the Highway Trust Fund, the mayors believe it needs to be more thoroughly studied by the Highway Trust Fund Study Commission. This commission was created by the General Assembly to study and make suggestions on how to improve the Highway Trust Fund. The mayors ask the General Assembly to utilize this important commission before taking action.

Transit - Recent versions of the state budget reduced transit funding by $10 million. The mayors believe this is a mistake; many of their cities are working hard to expand their transit systems in order to address traffic, give commuters choices, and improve air quality. Consequently, they call on the legislature to restore this $10 million cut.

Environment - Stormwater Legislation
The mayors joined all of their local government colleagues in calling on the legislature to pass HB 1585/SB 1210. This legislation will ensure North Carolina cities comply with the federal law which requires an urban stormwater program in all states. The failure of the Legislature to create a fair and equitable stormwater program could expose our cities to federal enforcement and lawsuits. The mayors believe that the proposed legislation creates a stormwater program for North Carolina that protects our states water quality and treats cities in a fair and equitable way.

Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday, Chair of the Coalition said, “It is important for our cities and state legislators to work together to make our state and our cities strong and vibrant places to live and work. Our cities are not competing against each other, but rather working together to compete against major metropolitan regions around the nation, and around the world.”

Established in 2000 and comprised of 22 of the largest cities in North Carolina, the North Carolina Metropolitan Coalition was formed by the mayors to encourage the continued development of the urban areas in North Carolina as livable, environmentally sound, and economically viable centers. See www.ncmetros.org.

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