Cities press for priorities in 2023 federal spending package

As Congress tries to hammer out a final 2023 spending bill, cities are urging negotiators to remember local priorities like an expanded use of stimulus funds and water infrastructure grant programs.

The request comes as Congressional leaders Tuesday evening announced what Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., called a "bipartisan, bicameral framework" for a fiscal 2023 spending bill. Current government funding runs out Friday, with lawmakers likely to pass a one-week extension before then to give more time to craft a final spending deal, expected to total around $1.7 trillion.

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The National League of Cities Wednesday sent a letter to the Hill's top appropriators asking lawmakers to include several items in the spending package.

A final 2023 budget should include the State, Local, Tribal and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act, or ARPA Flex, which the Senate passed in October 2021, NLC said. The bill would allow local governments to use stimulus funds for emergency relief from natural disasters and "other immediate needs," and would restore an office in the Treasury Department charged with helping small and rural governments spend and report their stimulus funds, which was suddenly shuttered this year.

The group also asked for reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, and the permanent authorization of the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program.

NLC is also asking for $4.2 billion for the CDBG program, which would provide full funding at the currently authorized level; $3.6 billion for HUD's Homeless Assistance Grants program; and inclusion of the Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization Act to help local governments plan new aviation projects.

Congress should also include funding for water infrastructure grant programs that were authorized, but not funded, under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the group said, including lead pipe replacement and sewer overflow and stormwater management.

The House Wednesday voted to send the Senate a legislative shell bill that will
be used as a vehicle for the spending package.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate must "pass a one-week CR quickly without the unwelcome brouhaha that has provoked shutdowns in the past," according to Roll Call. "And remember, as we go through this appropriations process, the experiences of the last decades show that those who risked shutdowns in order to make political points always lose in the end."