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Resolutions Adopted at the
67th Annual Conference of Mayors
New Orleans, Louisiana
June 11-15, 1999 |
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ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
SUPPORT FOR ‘BETTER AMERICA BONDS’
WHEREAS, The Conference of Mayors has urged the Administration and the Congress to
increase the scope of federal partnership commitments to brownfields; and
WHEREAS, recent efforts by mayors on brownfields have also underscored the
importance of preserving open space, farmland and forests in the nation’s urbanized
and non-urbanized areas; and
WHEREAS, an expanded commitment to the reuse of the many thousands of brownfield
sites in communities all across the nation will result in many benefits for citizens in
existing neighborhoods and communities as well as for others in developing areas and
throughout the nation; and
WHEREAS, mayors have recorded their strong support for policies to help preserve
open space, farmlands and forests, particularly where the unnecessary use of these land
resources results from the under-utilization of previously-urbanized properties, like
brownfields; and
WHEREAS, the nation’s mayors have also called for a broader federal
commitment to partner with cities and local governments in rehabilitating and expanding
local parks and recreational opportunities and in improving water quality; and
WHEREAS, the Administration has called for a new initiative, called Better
America Bonds, that proposes an innovative structure of tax credits to attract private
investment in support of local efforts to redevelop brownfields, preserve open spaces,
promote parks development and improve water quality; and
WHEREAS, this proposal would make new resources, totaling nearly $10 billion
over the next five years, available directly to communities for investments in these
priority areas; and
WHEREAS, the Better America Bonds proposal would provide bond funds on a
competitive basis to communities for such investments, requiring recipients to repay the
principal amount at the end of 15 years with no interest costs; and
WHEREAS, the Administration’s Better America Bond proposal is now pending
before the Congress and the tax-writing Committees specifically,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the
Congress to enact the Better America Bonds proposal when it takes action on tax
legislation during this Congress; and
BE, IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges that the
program be funded at the proposed level of $9.5 billion over the next five years.
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