By Ed Somers
January 31, 2011

President Barack Obama hosted all the mayors attending the Winter Meeting for a breakfast reception in the White House on January 21.

During his remarks to the mayors, President Obama highlighted some of the themes that were included in the State of the Union, including the need for further education reform and increased investment in infrastructure.

President Obama thanked the mayors for their local leadership on key issues such as public safety, education and quality of life, especially when times are tough as in the past several years.

"Today, I want to reaffirm to city hall that you have a strong partner in the White House," the President told the mayors.

The President also addressed the upcoming federal budget release coming the week of February 14. The President said that the recovery act, which made a major difference in America's cities, would be phasing out.

"What I can tell you is that while everyone is going to be asked to sacrifice, there is going to be some pain, we have heard your concerns, we have heard the concerns of mayors about issues like CDBG. We are not going to be looking to put an undue burden on anybody. That doesn't mean there is not going to be some pain. But we also recognize how central cities are to our economy," the President told the mayors.

The President also said that as long as he is in the White House, he would measure every decision he makes just like mayors do in city hall, by asking the question, "Does it work?"