---

National Association of Counties

by Michael Hightower, NACo President

The nation's major federal transportation law is up for reauthorization this year. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, known as ISTEA, expires on Sept. 30, 1997, and is probably the most important piece of domestic legislation that Congress is going to consider this year. Because of the importance of this program to the counties, ISTEA reauthorization is one of NACo's top legislative priorities for 1997.

ISTEA provides funding to counties for highway, bridge and transit projects, and many counties across the nation benefit from this program. It doesn't matter whether you're a large urban county like my own Fulton county, a growing suburban county or a small rural county, ISTEA can mean a lot to you.

I know this from serving on the Transportation Steering and Telecommunications committee where passions were often high when it came to discussing ISTEA. But, we always worked it out on the committee so that we had a policy that helped all counties, regardless of size. And my many years at NACo has taught me the importance of supporting programs that help all our members.

What is NACo doing about ISTEA?

Of course, we are lobbying Congress and the Administration to support our views on what the new ISTEA legislation should look like. We are also surveying counties to determine their experiences with the program. During NACo's Legislative Conference, I will announce the results of the survey at a media conference.

Another activity during the Legislative Conference will be a NACo ISTEA Rally on Capitol Hill. This event, which takes place on Tuesday, March 4, at 10am, is an opportunity for all county officials to tell their members of Congress that NACo wants them to "Keep ISTEA Strong."

That is the slogan you will see throughout the Legislative Conference and at the rally. I hope that many of the 2,000 county officials in Washington for the conference will make their way up to Capitol Hill to voice their support of ISTEA and to hear from the members of Congress and the Administration who are involved in this important piece of legislation.

NACo believes that ISTEA has worked. Our policy supports reauthorization of the program in its current form with some adjustments. We think that the three programs that provide funds to counties --- the surface transportation program, the bridge program, and the transit program --- need to be retained. Our members support the additional flexibility in funding that is included in ISTEA. We think that funding should be increased for highways, bridges, and transit, and that one way to accomplish this is to take the transportation trust fund off-budget.

Perhaps most important, we believe that ISTEA provided a greater role for county officials in deciding which projects should be funded in their communities. While this additional local government input has not happened in every community, ISTEA provided a boost to many county officials in their demands for a stronger intergovernmental partnership.

NACo will seek to strengthen the role for county officials, particularly rural officials and those in nonmetropolitan counties, where the ISTEA requirements for local input is not as strong as NACo believes it should be. NACo also believes that the federal mandates accompanying ISTEA should be reviewed and those found to be burdensome should be eliminated or reformed.

As NACo president, I call upon all county officials to become involved in the ISTEA debate. Let your senators and representatives know that you and NACo care about the outcome of this important piece of legislation. Remind them that county highways, bridges, and transit systems are the key to economic growth and mobility in your communities. Finally, keep NACo informed of your contacts.

| Main Page | What's ISTEA? | What's Next? | What's New? | What to do? | More Info! | You Asked? | Who says? |