April 27, 2009

April 29 will mark the 100-day anniversary of the Administration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Following is a time-line of key announcements, meetings, and other engagements between the new Administration and The U.S. Conference of Mayors over the past 100 days.

February 4:

USCM Delegation led by Conference President Manny Diaz of Miami and 20 other Mayors meets in the White House with Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Intergovernmental Affairs Director Cecilia Muñoz and others on securing inclusion of USCM priorities in final recovery bill. Delegation then meets with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) and her leadership team.

February 4:

President Obama signs into law the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. The new law, a major priority of the Conference of Mayors, significantly expands the children’s health insurance program (CHIP) and provides health insurance to over 11 million American children in low-income families.

February 17:

President Obama signs the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act into law with funding for key USCM priorities such as the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG), The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), COPS, Byrne Justice Assistance Grants (JAG), the Surface Transportation Program (STP), High Speed Rail, Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), Workforce Investment, and much more.

February 20:

80 Mayors meet in the White House with President Obama, Vice President Biden, Senior Advisor Jarrett, HUD Secretary Donovan, Energy Secretary Chu, Attorney General Holder, Education Secretary Donovan and Transportation Secretary LaHood on ARRA implementation.

February 26:

President Obama sends an outline of his proposed FY 2010 budget to Congress which includes increased funding for many Conference of Mayors priorities, including $4.5 billion for CDBG, funding to begin hiring 50,000 additional police officers, $109 million for prisoner reentry programs, an additional $5 billion for high speed rail, increased funding for public transit, $630 billion for a new reserve fund to finance fundamental health care system reform over 10 years, and an additional $4 billion for the 2010 census, $3.2 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and an additional $1 billion for Head Start.

February – April:

Vice President Biden holds weekly, 1-hour conference calls with mayors and county officials on implementation of ARRA.

March 4:

President Obama announces “Making Homes Affordable” program to help bring relief to responsible homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments, while preventing neighborhoods and communities from suffering with the negative spillover effects of foreclosure.

March 5:

President Obama begins to lay the foundation for universal health care reform (a priority of USCM) by hosting a White House summit on reforming the healthcare system followed by several regional discussions across America.

March 8:

USCM President Diaz hosts Vice President Biden in Miami for ARRA implementation event focused on COPS and Byrne law enforcement resources.

March 16:

President Obama announces plan to boost credit flow to small businesses.

March 17:

USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran hosts a webcast on Department of Justice ARRA funds with Acting Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson and Acting COPS Office Director Tim Quinn.

March 18:

Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Transportation announced new livable communities partnership (better access to housing and transportation).

March 18:

Vice President Biden hosts day long meeting in the White House with city and county ARRA Czars.

March 23:

USCM Mayoral Delegation meets with Transportation Secretary LaHood and White House Office of Urban Affairs Director Adolfo Carrion on reauthorization of surface transportation act.

March 26: Department of Energy releases program rules and funding allocations for the $2.8 billion in formula grants under the ARRA EECBG program.

March 31:

Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan participates in USCM Mayors Forum on Education.

April 1:

USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran hosts webcast on EECBG grants with Gil Sperling from the U.S. Department of Energy.

April 7:

The White House and the US Public Health Agencies Launch a New 5-Year HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign. This is the first federally funded national domestic HIV campaign in nearly 20 years. USCM has worked with the federal government to raise awareness of and to fight HIV/AIDS in urban areas for over 25 years.

April 8:

President Obama announces that actor Kal Penn will join his administration within the White House Office of Public Liaison responsible for working on arts and cultural issues. This is the first time a White House staff person has been designated to work with the arts community.

April 16:

President Obama announces a new era of high-speed rail in America.

April 21:

USCM Transportation and Communications Chair Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran continue discussions with USDOT on the next surface transportation bill