As the year comes to an end, we took a look back at the most popular CitiesSpeak blog posts from 2024! From federal updates to useful resources to new regulations and beyond, explore the topics that mattered the most to you over the last 12 months.
1. What’s Next for the Affordable Connectivity Program?
The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), created in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, has provided more than 22 million low-income households with a monthly $30 discount on home broadband service from participating internet service providers.
In January, NLC encouraged congressional action to prevent the ACP from exhausting its current source of funds and being forced to halt benefits at the end of April.
2. Federal Budget Updates
- In January, Congress voted to keep the federal government open and set a new March deadline for FY2024 spending bills.
- At the end of February, the House and Senate passed another short-term Continuing Resolution to give Congress more time to finalize and approve the 12 federal appropriations bills for the FY 2024 budget.
- Six months into the new Fiscal Year, Congress resolved the threat of a government shutdown by approving all 12 annual spending bills, which were signed into law.
- In September, Congress ended the immediate risk of another federal shutdown by approving a continuing resolution before the new federal fiscal year began on Oct. 1.
- Here are the key local priorities that remain on Congress’s to-do list as of December 6. In the final work period of the 118th Congress, some of these key priorities were addressed, including passing a Continuing Resolution, disaster relief funding, and reauthorizations for the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
3. Affordable Housing
- What is affordable housing? NLC explained the many programs and strategies from the federal to the local level, including tenant-based rental assistance, project-based affordable housing and more.
- How does homelessness impact child health and developmental outcomes? In a post from NLC, we encouraged city leaders to create and implement response intervention programs and policies.
- What is missing middle housing? In a post, we looked at these diverse housing options — which include duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and bungalows — and the critical lack of middle housing in rural, urban and suburban communities across the country.
- Millions of people in the United States living with mental health challenges face barriers to finding and maintaining stable housing. NLC examined the repercussions of unstable housing on mental health, and explored ways that cities nationwide are supporting mental health through housing.
- In a post by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Jeff Olivet, cities were encouraged to not give up on the fight to end homelessness and to avoid calls for harsh action that punishes people who have nowhere else to go.
- NLC advised local governments to make housing part of their economic development plans and listed ways that communities can incorporate it into their strategies.
- NLC explored the state of market-rate housing, referred to as non-subsidized properties that are rented or owned by those who pay market-rate rents or who paid market value to purchase the property, and how market-rate housing can help preserve affordable rents.
January 2025 is Housing Month. Register now for the NLC’s Housing Summit on January 16 and stay tuned for more resources to help you support affordable housing in your community!
4. Supreme Court Decisions
- In Lindke v. Freed, the Supreme Court established the test for when local government officials are considered “state actors” for the purposes of the First Amendment when they post on social media.
- In Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Supreme Court held in favor of preserving local control and upholding local ordinances regulating camping on public property.
- In Sheetz v. El Dorado County, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in a case involving government “Takings,” specifically ones that involve the government’s use of impact fees.
- NLC recapped Supreme Court decisions in the 2023-2024 term that directly impacted local governments.
5. ARPA Obligation
- The passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in 2021 provided a lifeline for local governments through its State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, which awarded every municipality a portion of $65.1 billion in funding. In July, NLC advised local governments on what to know about the 2024 end-of-year ARPA obligation deadline, and how they must obligate funding or risk potential clawbacks of these funds.
- In October, NLC again encouraged municipalities to prepare for the upcoming ARPA SLFRF obligation deadline, explaining how cities can know if they’ve obligated their funds, what is not an obligation and examples of how to obligate remaining funds.
- In December, NLC shared a roundup of five key NLC resources to help municipalities with the upcoming ARPA SLFRF deadline.
6. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day
On May 5, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Day is observed most widely across the U.S. and Canada to raise awareness for the MMIP cause and advocate against the injustice happening to Native women and their families every day.
Sigvanna Tapqaq, city council member of Nome, AK, and NLC Local Indigenous Leaders (LIL) constituency group member, explored the history of this day, and how cities continue to take action today.
7. Understanding New Regulations
- With the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) finalizing amendments to the firearm dealership regulations under 27 CFR Part 478, NLC helped local governments understand the implications of these changes and how they can effectively support enforcement and community awareness.
- In April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the first-ever National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for certain per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as ‘forever chemicals.’ NLC explored six things for local leaders to know about these new regulations, including timeline for compliance, compliance costs and additional resources.
8. The Earned Income Tax Credit: An Underutilized Tool to Fight Poverty
In the days leading up to Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Day, NLC encouraged communities not to leave billions of dollars in EITC benefit on the table and explored how EITC and similar benefits have, on average, lifted nearly 8 million individuals out of poverty per year from 2017 to 2021.
With Earned Income Tax Awareness Day 2025 exactly a month away, check out NLC’s toolkit on how you can raise awareness in your community.
9. 5 Ways Artists Can Help Local Government
Cities have partnered with artists to build and strengthen community relationships, boost social infrastructure, improve community health and wellbeing, communicate creatively, celebrate city identity and access diverse funding streams.
In February, NLC explored how leveraging the strengths of artists can improve municipal processes and relationships, with real examples from cities like Minneapolis, Nashville, and more.
10. How a Simple Board Game Changed a City Council for the Better
At NLC’s City Summit 2023, Councilmember Anne Barrington of Parker, CO, discovered a strategy for creating more cohesion and agreement at public town hall meetings — board games.
BUILT, an interactive board game tool designed by Sojourn Theatre, was created as a civic dialogue project that addresses the challenges of housing, infrastructure, neighborhood cohesion and equity in American cities.
Councilmember Barrington was inspired to bring BUILT to her own community, seeing the benefit of a neutral space to talk about contentious community issues. NLC explored how local leaders can recreate this experience in their own city, from hiring artist facilitators to piloting an artist-in-residence government program and beyond.
Follow CitiesSpeak in 2025!
NLC’s CitiesSpeak blog is the best way to stay informed on updates and issues related to cities, towns and villages. Keep up with our posts in the New Year and stay on the cutting edge!
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