State and local leaders are holding their breath waiting to see if President Donald Trump will veto a major housing bill, which he's refused to sign, while cities scramble to replace dwindling infrastructure funding.
"A lot of [the process of getting things funded] is going to the state legislature, asking for bonding funds and going to the federal government trying to get funds, which are shrinking," said Rochester, Minnesota, Mayor Kim Norton.
The comments came during the rollout of the National League of City's annual State of the Cities survey and report.
Rochester is a growing city that's home to the
Municipalities are constantly scrambling to put the jigsaw puzzle pieces of infrastructure improvements and housing development together.
Infrastructure is the highest-ranked priority for mayors responding to NLC's mayors survey, the same placement as in last year's survey.
Infrastructure and housing were the second and third priorities covered in mayoral speeches. Economic development was first.
Priority infrastructure categories include parking lots, bridges, public transit and public utilities, which includes broadband and electricity.
Cities that received infrastructure funding through the American Rescue Plan are required to spend all of their funds by the end of the calendar year. Funding from the Infrastructure and Jobs Act sunsets on Sept. 30.
According to NLC, $3.1 billion of ARPA funds was obligated by municipalities with over 250,000 residents and $20.1 billion was obligated by municipalities with under 250,000.
The vast majority of survey respondents (81%) to the NLC's survey indicated "the end of this funding will negatively impact their infrastructure spending."
Municipalities losing ARPA and IIJA funds are hoping for some relief by way of the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
Trump refused to sign the bill last month and said he wouldn't sign it Friday, it automatically becomes law at midnight unless he vetoes it, which would send it back to Congress for a possible override.
The bill changes the rules on the Community Development Block Grant program and expands the HOME Investment Partnership Program, two pluses for housing-related infrastructure.
Bond issuers would see the cap on public welfare investments raised to 20% from 15%.
The cap limits how much banks can invest in community development projects, which includes affordable housing.
A higher cap is expected to pull even more private investment into the affordable housing sector.
According to the NLC, 75% of mayors identified high housing costs as a main challenge.
"In recent years, income growth has concentrated in a small number of cities, and with it, so have median household incomes, which increased by about 15 percent in cities that were already in the top 10 percent as compared to cities that were initially in the bottom half from 2000 to 2018."
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University reports high home prices and elevated interest rates have reduced home buying to its lowest level since the mid-1990s.
