National League of Cities’ Response to New House Relief Proposal

Washington, D.C. – Following the release of the new House proposal for coronavirus relief, Joe Buscaino, President Pro Tempore, Los Angeles City Council and President, National League of Cities made the following statement:

“We are encouraged to see further progress toward a bipartisan solution on a new COVID-19 relief package that puts our communities and our nation on the path to economic recovery. The proposal released by Speaker Pelosi builds on the latest available data on the impacts of COVID-19 on public health and the economy, and incorporates reasonable bipartisan feedback from Congressional caucuses, public interest groups, and private stakeholders. We are hopeful that the package will help jump start good-faith negotiations by Senate and Administration leaders in order to deliver long-overdue relief to American cities, towns and villages everywhere.

“The proposal is a positive first step and a reasonable compromise that will help local governments get through the immediate and short-term fiscal crisis and begin to put our nation on the road to recovery. However, the road to recovery will be long and cities will continue to face significant revenue shortfalls due to the pandemic well beyond the next year. NLC projects that U.S. municipalities will experience $360 billion in revenue shortfalls over the next three years – an amount that is only partially covered in the latest proposal. We encourage Congress and the Administration to agree to this latest proposal to provide short-term relief, with the expectation that there will be more work to be done in the future to facilitate the long-term recovery of our nation’s communities and local economies.”

NLC launched the Cities Are Essential campaign in May, calling on the federal government to ensure there is flexible, direct funding relief provided to America’s municipalities.