City Leaders Urge Federal Leaders to Do Their Jobs and Prevent Partial Shutdown

WASHINGTON – December 19, 2018 – As the deadline looms to prevent a partial government shutdown, the National League of Cities (NLC) calls on federal leaders to do their jobs and find a bipartisan solution to keep federal agencies open. By continuing to fail at funding critical programs for our nation’s most vulnerable residents, including funding for community development and disaster preparedness, a partial shutdown could adversely affect many of America’s 19,000 cities, towns and villages.

“Cities expect our leaders in Washington to meet their most basic obligation and keep the federal government open,” said NLC President Karen Freeman-Wilson, mayor of Gary, Indiana. “A federal shutdown would impact  programs that grow local economies and build more resilient communities. Instead of wasting $6.5 billion a week on a shutdown, let’s put that money to good use — by investing in America’s cities.”

In the event of a shutdown, NLC will provide resources and information for city leaders to help navigate the effects and scope of a shutdown. Programs that may be impacted include:

• Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which invest in programs that serve the nation’s most economically vulnerable communities.
• The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which assists the recovery of millions of residents from severe flooding disasters every year.
• The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides funding to low-income families to heat or cool their homes.

Agencies that provide critical funding and support to cities will be affected by a partial government shutdown, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. If programs within these federal agencies lapse during the on-going appropriations fight, America’s low-income and distressed communities will experience the sternest health and safety repercussions.