Last Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance held a hearing on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and its impact on addressing local challenges. Kimberly Robinson, Executive Director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) testified on behalf of the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC).
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On Monday May 10, the U.S. Department of Treasury released guidance on the State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund), as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Included in the guidance is the flexibility to use Recovery Funds to invest in broadband infrastructure, services and programs to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including capital investments in public facilities, investments in housing and neighborhoods and other guidance counties advocated for. The U.S.
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The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) recently became an outreach partner for the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBBP). The Emergency Broadband Benefit is a program to help households struggling to pay for internet service during the pandemic. This new benefit will connect eligible households to jobs, critical healthcare services, and virtual classrooms. EBBP will provide a discount of up to $50 per month towards broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on Tribal lands.
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In response to a Federal Register notice that proposes to raise the population threshold for the designation of a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), NARC has submitted comment to the Office of Management and budget opposing the change. Comments on this notice are due by March 19, 2021. NARC members are encouraged to utilize this language for their own purposes if that is helpful for you.
Read the letter here.
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NARC Analysis: American Rescue Plan
Last week, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. The $1.9 trillion bill will provide additional relief to address the continued impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals, and businesses. NARC has created a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes some of the major pieces of this new bill. Feel free to share with your colleagues and membership and reach out to the NARC staff if you have any questions about the legislation.
Continue reading NARC Analysis: American Rescue Plan at National Association of Regional Councils.
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Please join the Urban Institute, in collaboration with NARC, for a timely presentation and discussion on integrating racial equity in regional housing policy. Throughout the presentation, participants will learn about policies that promote regional housing equity, see examples of promising work being done across the country, learn about Urban Institute data tools for decision making, and discuss how to unite diverse jurisdictions under one common equity-focused policy agenda.
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Twenty-one NARC-member regional councils have written to congressional leadership requesting critical funding for transit agencies to maintain operations as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain their resources.
Click here to view the letter.
The agencies call for $32 Billion in emergency federal funds to be included in an upcoming stimulus package to be passed before the end of 2020. This figure has been identified by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) as what is needed to ensure that transit agencies “can survive and help our communities and the nation recover from the economic fallout of the pandemic.”
COVID-19 has caused massive drops in transit ridership and lost revenue has forced transit agencies across the country to consider service and personnel cuts.
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Late yesterday afternoon, the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus released the long-awaited bill text for their $908 billion coronavirus relief package. The legislation is a two-part stimulus plan: a $748 billion package focusing on areas of agreement and a separate $160 billion bill that includes the most controversial provisions for lawmakers — additional funding for state and local government and liability protections. It’s important to keep in mind that while many lawmakers see this bill as the most concrete and realistic compromise on COVID-19 relief we have seen in months, House and Republican leadership see it as a marker for broader negotiations and not a final vehicle for aid.
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The Triangle J Council of Governments (TJCOG), which serves as the regional government for almost two million people across Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange, and Wake counties in North Carolina, will be hosting its first-ever virtual Regional Summit Series. The summit’s theme is “What’s Equity Have to Do with It?” and events will dive deep into the impact of government policies and practices on equity in the region.
This is not the first time TJCOG has addressed equity, however the organization is now placing a much greater emphasis on concrete actions that can be made to improve equity throughout the region.
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Earlier this week, U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham issued a statement that 2020 census operations will be accelerated and field data collection completed by September 30, 2020.
NARC and other census advocates are concerned that wrapping up door knocking efforts and self-response options a month earlier than previously planned will lead to a significant undercount of our most vulnerable populations.
Given the many important ways that the census impacts regional, rural, and metropolitan planning, the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), along with the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) and the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO), has developed a letter (NARC-NADO-AMPO Census Letter) to Congressional leaders which includes the following requests:
- Request the administration reconsider its decision to complete field data collection by September 30 and provide additional time to ensure as comprehensive a
survey as possible is performed.
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