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NARC Testifies at U.S. Senate Hearing on Livable Communities Act
Dr. Lyle Wray, Capitol Region Council of Governments. Encourages the Senate to Authorize Vital Legislation to Support Urban and Rural Regions
WASHINGTON, DC (June 9, 2010) – The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) today testified at the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on “Local Perspectives on the Livable Communities Act.” Dr. Lyle Wray, Executive Director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) in Hartford, CT and Member of NARC’s Executive Directors Council, represented NARC in describing the importance of establishing a federal commitment to comprehensive regional planning and implementation through authorizing and funding the Livable Communities Act (LCA), a bill which would provide the framework for federal assistance to integrated planning through local government actions within a regional planning organization.
“Now is the time for the federal government bolster its commitment and assistance to regional efforts by encouraging multi-jurisdictional work through incentives, flexibility, streamlining and direct funding to our local governments and regional planning organizations,” said Dr. Wray. “The Livable Communities Act is important in that it provides incentives for regions to plan comprehensive future growth in a coordinated way that reduces congestion, generates good-paying jobs, meets our environmental and energy goals, protects rural areas and green space, revitalizes our Main Streets and urban centers, creates and preserves affordable housing, and makes our communities better places to live, work and raise families.”
Dr. Wray participated in a witness panel with The Honorable Jackie Nytes, City-County Councillor, City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County, IN, on behalf of the National League of Cities; Mr. Joe McKinney, Executive Director, Land-of-Sky Regional Council, Asheville, NC, on behalf of the National Association of Development Organizations.
“We [NARC] believe the local government supported network of regional councils, with their broad spectrum of community stakeholder input, issues and expertise in programming federal, state and local funds and services, are a natural vehicle through which the federal government can realize efficiencies in delivering the objectives of the LCA,” stated Wray. “This bill would provide regional planning organizations and local governments of all sizes, make ups and capabilities the resources and collective capabilities to exercise choice in the ways we nurture, enhance and protect our communities to ensure our unique characteristics, histories and offerings are preserved and expanded for generations to come. We appreciate Chairman Dodd’s leadership on this bill and look forward to working with Congress to get it passed.”
Dr. Wray’s full testimony can be accessed by clicking here.