Recently, the members of the American City County Exchange, a division of the American Legislative Exchange Council, representing city and county elected officials in 50 states, sent a letter to President-Elect Trump outlining their concerns about several items affecting local governments and what reforms are needed.
Dear President-Elect Trump:
The members of the American City County Exchange, a division of the American Legislative Exchange Council, representing city and county elected officials in 50 states, petition you with great urgency.
We have been encouraged to hear about your desire to rebuild infrastructure, shrink the regulatory size of the federal government and send power back to the states. However, before these things can be accomplished, it is important to know the depth and breadth of federal policies and rules affecting local governments.
Under current policies, stimulus initiatives the Trump administration hopes to implement would be difficult to see to fruition, even over a two-term cycle. Bureaucratic entanglement is making many projects average a decade or more, not to mention doubling and tripling the cost of projects.
Our cities and counties are suffocating under the weight of Presidential orders, federal regulations and unfunded mandates. Most of these problems are being exacerbated by the very federal agencies you will be directing under your administration. While not an exhaustive list, our reform suggestions are as follows:
