By Larry Jones
February 17, 2003

To help shape the debate in Washington on economic security and spread The U.S. Conference of Mayors message on economic security, Conference of Mayors President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Manchester (NH) Mayor Robert A. Baines convened an all-day forum on economic security in Manchester at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College on February 6. Presidential candidates, community leaders representing business, education, labor and other sectors were invited to join with mayors to discuss their concerns about the economy and what needs to be done to spur economic growth. Mayor Baines chairs the Conference of Mayors Urban Economic Policy Committee. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, a Democratic candidate for President, accepted the invitation and joined with mayors and others for over an hour, sharing his vision on the economy, housing, education, health care and unfunded mandates.

Manchester, New Hampshire

Drawing attention to the political significance of New Hampshire, which will host the nation's first presidential primary in a little less than a year from now, Mayor Baines told attendees that "groups like the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and mayors themselves, would be foolish to pass up the opportunity provided by the New Hampshire primary to inform those running for president of the urban realities facing an otherwise rural state. I am glad to see Governor Dean here today as we view urban issues through the prism of places like Manchester or Nashua or North Little Rock."

He also said that some might think Manchester is a curious place to hold a meeting on urban issues since it is a small city. But, he said, "as our way of life - if not our climate - attracts more and more residents and as exurbs bleed into suburbs which bleed into cities, smaller cities are facing the same challenges as their larger counterparts. We are also increasingly becoming the beneficiaries of some of the blessings of big city life - particularly as diversified populations introduce their neighbors to the joys of different cultures and traditions."

Concerns About the Economy

Commenting on the state of the economy Mayor Menino told attendees that a number of national issues (the pending war against Iraq, the sluggish economy and the recent loss of the Columbia crew) are weighing heavily on working families in cities across American. "But our people are as sturdy as some of the old mills of Manchester that made this city great," he said.

He further explained that "our people need jobs, our states need revenue and our cities need relief from the growing demands of homeland preparedness and educational mandates. We must move forward and we must do so with a solid plan to address these needs. The United States Conference of Mayors has put forward such a plan." Mayor Menino was referring to an economic security proposal adopted by the Conference on January 22 urging that any stimulus package adopted by Congress include support for homeland security; economic security through investments in tax credits and infrastructure projects that create jobs; and fiscal relief for states.

Mayor Menino told attendees that we have already begun to see bipartisanship build in Congress for a plan that supports the Conference platform. He explained that Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat and Senator Olympia Snowe a Republican are co'sponsoring legislation to provide $40 billion to aid state and local governments. He also expressed concerns about the President's proposed 2004 budget which calls for cuts in public housing, public safety and after school care. He also voiced opposition to provisions in the budget that would change a number of programs so that funds that currently go directly to cities would be sent to states in the form of block grants for distribution. Mayor Menino said this is not needed since it would create an extra layer of bureaucracy and drive up administrative costs.

Presidential Candidate Howard Dean

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean told attendees that during the past year 650,000 jobs have been lost in metropolitan areas across America. He said "we need jobs and we need urban jobs. I think the way to get those jobs is to stimulate small business growth." He suggested that one of the ways he would help small businesses would be to help them provide health insurance to their employees. He believes this is one of the biggest problems facing small business and if you help them with this, it will help them increase their profit margin.

Investment in Infrastructure Projects: Critical of the Administration's economic growth plan, which mostly calls for tax cuts to individuals and businesses, Governor Dean said he doesn-t believe in tax cuts to individuals as a means of stimulating the economy. He believes strongly in investing in infrastructure projects. "We need to rebuild our infrastructure. That creates jobs and at the end of the day, you have something for the next 70 years."

Instead of the Administration investing $2.3 trillion in tax cuts, he poses the question "can you imagine a $2.3 trillion investment in America's infrastructure? Can you imagine what that would have done to create construction jobs? And at the end of the day, instead of simply giving the money to people with large amounts of discretionary income, you would have schools, you would have roads, you would have airports and you would have rail systems that would last for 50 or 60 years." Further, he said it is no surprise that two years after the President's tax cut passed, "the economy is worse not better because he has run up the deficit and removed confidence from investing in our markets."

Double CDBG: Another way he would invest in the infrastructure would be to double the Community Development Block Grant program which, since passage in 1975, has given a guaranteed allocation of flexible HVD funds to cities for a wide varity of local projects. Governor Dean called CDBG "a remarkable program" which he has used as an effective tool in Vermont to develop jobs, affordable housing and to clean up low-income neighborhoods.

Mandates: On legislative mandates, Governor Dean said "every single person running for the Presidency of the United States with the exception of me, supported what I call the No School Board Left Standing bill. The President's education bill is the second largest unfunded mandate in the history of education. And who is going to pay for that? The property taxpayer. It's not right for the federal government to tell you how to run your cities and towns and how the school system ought to be run without paying for it. But that's exactly what Congress did when they passed the President's education bill." He also said Congress should pay the bill for homeland security mandates it imposed on states and cities.

Governor Dean also said "The President and Congress, both Democrats and Republicans seem to believe that what their business is to do is to make sure that the 5 percent of mayors who are not doing their jobs get penalized. And so they pass so many strings so that the 95 percent of you who do want to do your jobs, can not do them properly or you have to rely on your own tax revenues to get them done. My approach is to reward the 95 percent who are doing a great job because it's cheaper in the end to allow local people to make their decisions."

To view the entire Manchester forum on video, visit our website at www.usmayors.org.