By Evangelina Garcia
August 1, 2011

With the looming federal deadline to raise the debt ceiling, more than 50 of the nation’s mayors, led by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, called on Congress and the Administration to reach an agreement on the debt limit to prevent default during a July 21 press conference in Los Angeles.

“Default will have an immediate and catastrophic impact on our cities, the implications are global, and economists agree. A credit downgrade will plunge us into a deep, double-dip recession,” said Villaraigosa. “We urge leaders in Washington to act now.”

At the Conference of Mayors Summer Leadership Meeting, the mayors also discussed other critical issues and challenges facing America’s cities including job creation and energy security.

The Congressional Research Service estimated that if the debt ceiling is not increased, “the federal government would have to eliminate all spending on discretionary programs.” That means every federal payment to cities will stop, either immediately or shortly after default. The cuts would eliminate support for housing and community development, CDBG, COPS, Homeland Security, job training, and transportation infrastructure.

Additionally, the security of local governments’ tax-exempt bonds would be threatened. Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would take billions more out of local economies.

During their discussions, mayors pointed out that raising the debt ceiling isn’t a Democratic or a Republican issue. The debt ceiling was raised 17 times under Reagan, four times under Clinton, seven times under George W. Bush, and has been raised three times under Obama.

As a quick and secure way to increase job creation, mayors also called on Congress to pass the pending transportation bill. The current surface transportation bill is set to expire again on September 30.

The Senate bill would protect jobs and put people to work. The bill proposed in the House calls for a thirty-five percent reduction in the nation’s transportation programs – dealing a devastating blow to local projects and local jobs. According to an analysis by the Federal Highway Administration, if these cuts go forward, a half-million Americans will lose their jobs in 2012 in the highway program alone. Another 130,000 will lose their jobs in the transit program.

More than 113 mayors across the country support America Fast Forward, a national plan that would create nearly one million jobs building American roads, bridges, rail, and other infrastructure projects more quickly with innovative federal financing tools that leverage local dollars.