By Ed Somers and Ron Thaniel
July 13, 2009

In his first official act as Conference of Mayors President, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels traveled to Washington (DC) on June 17 for meetings with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA), House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (MN), and White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett.

During the meeting with Pelosi, Nickels committed to help secure passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), which passed the House by a vote of 219-212 on June 26.

Nickels also urged Pelosi to support continued funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) – beyond the $2.8 billion provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Pelosi told Nickels that she strongly supports continued funding for the EECBG, and that the funding provided under ARRA was just a down payment on Congress’s commitment to the mayors.

Nickels and Pelosi spoke about other key issues such as health care reform and reauthorization of the surface transportation law. The two leaders pledged to work closely together as these major bills move forward.

Prior to the meeting with Pelosi, Nickels met with Oberstar to discuss the need for metropolitan mobility policies in the next federal surface transportation authorization, stating, “The Conference’s top transportation priority is the creation of a robust Metropolitan Mobility Program.”

Oberstar committed to the mayor that his proposal for the next surface transportation authorization would include a metropolitan mobility initiative.

Oberstar’s draft legislation released on June 22 - called the “Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009” - does include a Metropolitan Mobility and Access Program. While the Chairman’s proposal is a positive step, it does not totally reflect USCM’s position that all new and existing federal surface transportation funds be allocated within states calibrated to the economic output of metropolitan areas. Oberstar’s proposal depends on a adoption of a National Infrastructure Bank for grants, loans, lines of credit, and other financial tools.

While in Washington, Nickels also met in the White House with Jarrett and her intergovernmental team to discuss moving forward on shared priorities with the Administration following the Annual Conference of Mayors in Providence.