Mayors representing The Conference of Mayors joined representatives from the National League of Cities and the Large Urban County Caucus of the National Association of Counties on September 9th in the White House with President Clinton's Chief Domestic Policy Team.

Setting forth a united front that cuts in key domestic programs are opposed by local government organizations, The Conference of Mayors delegation met as the Clinton Administration prepared for budget negotiations between Congress and the White House.  The Clinton Administration has issued veto threats on seven of the thirteen appropriations bills that must be passed by Congress by September 30th in order for the Federal government to remain open.  As USMAYOR went to press, President Clinton said he will deliver his long-promised veto of a $792 billion Republican tax cut bill sent to the White House recently.

With these budget issues on center stage, Mayors Sharon Sayles Belton of Minneapolis, Scott King of Gary and Paul Helmke of Fort Wayne went to the White House to stress various aspects of potential harm to cities if proposed cuts in the Federal appropriations and budget process are sustained this fall.  Mayor Belton told the White House Chief of Staff John Podesta and other aides that full funding of the budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development was paramount and that key HUD programs, such as CDBG, HOME, Hope 6 and housing vouchers must be included in any final budget deal with Congress.

Gary Mayor Scott King called on the Administration to remain strong in its commitment to fund a second round of Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities.  He also encouraged the Administration to support Rep. Bud Shuster's (PA) Air-21 Aviation Reauthorization package, on the grounds that airport development is critical to handle increased air traffic and essential to national economic vitality.

Gene Sperling, head of the President's National Economic Council, briefed the mayors on the devastating effect of the $792 billion proposed Congressional tax cutbacks.  He estimated that if the tax proposal becomes law, domestic spending could be slashed 40 percent to 50 percent in many key budget categories such as Education, Community Development, and the environment.

Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer representing the National League of Cities in the meeting, called on local governments to strongly oppose the tax cut measure and to support President Clinton's veto of the measure.

Mayor Belton also encouraged the Administration to support efforts in Congress to fund the Urban Parks Program, saying that revitalized and expanded urban parks and recreation programs served to prevent juvenile crime and enhanced the lives of children.  Mayor Belton also stressed the importance of other critical programs for cities including the Department of Justice's COPS Program, Welfare-to-Work Programs of the Department of Labor and federally-funded after-school programs for youth.

Wayne Curry, of Prince Georges County, representing the Large Urban County Caucus of the National Association of Counties, urged the Administration not to undercut local government ability to collect state and local taxes through commerce over the Internet. 

Podesta told the mayors that he remained hopeful that the Congress and the Administration would reach agreement on many of the Administration's priorities, including the New Markets initiative proposed by the Administration to bring more private investments to America's communities.