NLC's Guide for Making the Most of August Recess

NLC Legislative Director, Brittney Kohler, discusses what the Congressional August recess means and how local leaders can make the most of it with NLC's Director of Federal Advocacy, Irma Esparza Diggs.

For more information, visit us at nlc.org.

Transcript

Copy

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Welcome back to Cityspeak. I am your host, Irma Sparza Diggs, and I'm the Senior Executive and Director of Federal Advocacy at the National League of Cities. Cityspeak gives listeners an insider's view of what local leadership in America means today and features conversations with government leaders and policy experts regarding the biggest issues and challenges facing America's cities, towns, and villages. August recess is the annual period when members of Congress leave our nation's capital and return to their home districts to meet constituents and engage in what's happening locally. Even though it is called a recess, it is not truly a vacation as legislators often use this time to attend community events, hold their town halls, and meet with their constituents. Today I am joined by Brittany Kohler, NLC's Legislative Director for Transportation and Infrastructure Services, to discuss how you all can accomplish your legislative goals while members of Congress take their recession. Brittany, thank you for joining us today. Welcome to Cityspeak. Thanks so much, Irma. Glad to be here. Let's get right into this because I know we've got a lot we want to cover. Brittany, can you please share exactly what recess is and why it's an important time of the year for members of Congress?

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Absolutely. So Congressional Recess happens almost every August, unless there's pressing business before Congress. And the goal is to let members of Congress be in their districts. Let them talk to you all. Let them understand what's happening on the ground. They are eager to spend time with you, but it's a dedicated block of time rather than just a few days here or a small week or two there that allows them to actually be listening to their constituents, which is their job. And so we're always really glad when Congress leaves town in August because it means that they're there with you all and they're hearing what's important to you. So we're really excited that congressional staff are also going to be touring around with each member of Congress in the state. And so it's a great opportunity for us to really connect with Congress at home.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Absolutely. And really this entire year, local leaders have been meeting with members of Congress here in our nation's capital. Uh, given that the uh deadline for the reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Bill, as well as the water infrastructure bill, uh, local leaders have been coming to DC to meet with their members of Congress to talk about the importance of reauthorizing that legislation. It's why we were able to get significant legislation passed that would actually benefit or introduce that would benefit local governments. Most recently, I know there's been a slew of meetings before recess that took place. Can you share some of the takeaways with those members of Congress that members of Congress shared? But also what is it we need to know as our members get ready to pivot those conversations to meeting with their members while they're in their district?

SPEAKER_02 3:45

Absolutely. I mean, Congress went home with some unfinished business, particularly on infrastructure. And as you mentioned, there's some bills that have been percolating and there's a hard deadline coming up. September 30th, uh, the nation actually stops uh some of our transportation programs. Even if there's um an extension, um, they they won't be able to save all the programs um in time because they haven't gotten their bills done. And so as Congress heads home, um they're gonna be on the roads, on the bridges, riding on the bus, meeting with constituents who want to see this project or that project done. And the hard truth is that those are projects that could be at risk. Um, and so we've been doing a lot of work this past year and even before that, really talking to Congress about what's truly needed at the ground level in our regions, in our communities, and really trying to pinpoint this is a project that we want to see. This is the type of investment we want to see. Um, because ultimately, Congress has a huge bill that they put together every five years or so on infrastructure. Traditionally, it's just transportation, but the last five years, we actually had a bill that included water and broadband and some of our other infrastructure priorities that cities and towns really care about. Um, and so that reauthorization is due. And as we think about the future, it's time for Congress to set a game plan for the next five years. That game plan, it's a dollar late and a and a day short here because they didn't necessarily um keep up with the funding levels in what they've proposed. And then on top of that, they are late to this game. Um, traditionally, it takes several committees on both the House and the Senate side to get a transportation or infrastructure reauthorization done. And only, I would say, about a quarter of them have gotten their work done this year. So Congress is heading home with some unfinished homework and a lot of things that communities and others are going to be talking to them about, um, which is how do you get my project done that matters to us in our community? Because ultimately these projects are everyday heroes, right? When you get something done at the local level, um, everybody notices, hey, that that road's flowing better. Hey, that bridge got replaced. Hey, that transit project actually is making my commute better. And that's the type of conversation that'll be happening both in a positive way for the projects that we've been able to accomplish over the last five years and get started, um, but also in a negative way, where, hey, we've got these issues and it seems like you guys are late in making sure that that partnership is there to rebuild the infrastructure across the country. So as you talk to them, that's going to be a core part of what you should bring up is what's next on their to-do list when they come back in September.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Thank you. So let me ask you, Brittany, given that the members of Congress will be home in their congressional district and spending a lot of time, how can local leaders really take advantage of that time? What specifically can and should they be doing to maximize that time to build on the conversations that have been had? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

So there are a few great ways to engage with your members of Congress while they're home. Right now, because we're already in this mid-August cycle, check the schedule. Uh, check in with your district office, give them a quick call and say, hey, you know, want to just see if the senator or the or the member of Congress is gonna be headed my way. Um, maybe there's an event you can go to, maybe there's um an opportunity to plan something, right? If they're gonna be close to you, maybe you invite them over for a coffee. Um, maybe you host a few people to meet with them. Um, they're always looking for more opportunities to leverage their time at home and to make the most of a trip. Um, and these are like segmented trips. So you could be, you know, in one town uh on on Monday and another town on Tuesday, but there's all the all the places in between and and some hours and downtime that they might be able to fill. Um, so definitely be in touch with your district office. And all of those are are posted on their websites. So you'll be able to easily see here's the phone number, here's the one that's closest to me. Just give them a quick call. Um, explain who you are, say that you know you're interested in connecting with that member of Congress while they're nearby. Um and if ultimately they're not able to, they don't have an event scheduled or you're not able to invite them to something, um, think about October. So one of the other big opportunities this year, because it's an election year, is Congress will be headed home, hopefully sometime in in October, to once again be out in the districts talking to constituents. Um, so you really have two bites of the apple this particular year. So it maybe the next question is well, if I can't connect with you in August, I'll see you in October and invite them to participate in something. Maybe we plan something. Um, in fact, NLC has a great toolkit for every elected official uh for how you can actually plan an event or invite a member of Congress to an event. We have templates, we have emails, um, and our advocacy director is fantastic. And you can just reach out at advocacy at nlc.org and you'll get straight to our team and be able to say, hey, I want to do this. Heard about this on Cityspeak Podcast. We'll we'll get back to you. We'll actually answer your questions and help you. Um, so don't be don't be afraid to ask. Uh, this is a great time to just you know reach out to district offices and if you need our help too, feel free to reach out. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Thank you, Brittany, and I appreciate you sharing the advocacy at nlc.org email uh as a resource for members to go that are looking to maximize these conversations. So once those conversations are scheduled and members of Congress who actually really welcome the opportunity to learn more about infrastructure projects, capital projects in each locality, what should that hard ask be right now? What should be the focus in August and October for conversations with these members of Congress?

SPEAKER_02 10:22

The brass tax ask has to be let's get this done. Let's get infrastructure reauthorization done. Um, it's something that every community relies on. Every city budget, about a third of it goes to infrastructure, whether that's transportation or water or transit. So this is something that matters deeply to almost every community across the country. Um, and we need to make sure that they actually get this done before the end of this year. Uh, Congress turns into a pumpkin on December 31st. Uh, this is kind of the end of this Congress. And so I like to describe this as, you know, that that awful time in Candyland where you make it almost to the end and to the goal of reaching, reaching that that top peak. And all of a sudden the slide takes you all the way back down to the beginning. And that's what a new Congress ultimately is. You're sliding all the way back to sort of the starting point, and you've got to move that legislation all the way back up through. Also, the politics will change. Um, with an with elections happening in November, and we're heading into a new Congress, there'll be new leadership. There'll be new folks join joining in different committees. So the the dynamics change a little bit, which means they have to sort out like how they're going to move through and create consensus, even if uh all the parties stay the same, even if most of the players stay the same. There tends to be a little bit of a push and pull in a new Congress that they have to figure out for themselves. Um, but ultimately we'd love to see them finish this before the end of the year. We think it could be easier, and certainly because we're already going to be losing some of the programs September 30th, some of those cuts are rail, bridges, roads. Um, there's a lot in there that that is going to be taking some haircuts. And we don't want that to last too long. Um, we already know that we're behind on our transportation and water spending by a whole lot. And so going even back even further and and letting that um letting that investment go by the wayside is really a hard thing to stomach, I think, at the local level when we know what the problems are, we know what the solutions are. We just need to invest and get that partnership uh to move projects into construction. Um and that's that's really the goal. So I think hard ask when we see members of Congress um out in the districts at events is definitely let's get this done. Let's get the infrastructure bill reauthorized, let's get it, get this renewal um done before the end of Congress.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Absolutely. Thank you. I can see the bumper sticker now. Let's get it done. Um, and and really, your Candyland analogy was perfect because uh local leaders have had so much success or small successes incrementally on larger projects. And every year they've been able to build. So this is about continuing to build on that initial investment, uh, continuing to build that momentum so that they can continue to build these infrastructure projects on time and on budget. And Congress plays a key role in that. So when members of Congress do come back to Washington in the fall, what do they need to focus on before the election and then after the election? So we don't have to, you know, fall back to square one. What do they need to get done now?

SPEAKER_02 14:03

There's a lot that we can say about the to-do list of Congress, but top priority right now has got to be the budget. Um there is a budget extension. The House is poised to act on that when they return. The Senate um has pushed that over to them, which is a great starting point. Beyond that, we're going to see, I think, a few discussions um after the elections that are really important. We anticipate that this transportation reauthorization would potentially be in there. Um there's a lot of discussions about um, you know, the future of all of our spending priorities, right? So if they if they pass the extension uh in September, then ultimately um they're going to come back to December with an opportunity to to pass the full thing and to really decide the priorities. Uh so that's I think a really substantial like before and after. And we'll we'll we'll be following it all along the way, right? Um there's some things that they'll they'll get done uh before they head home. Um, and there'll some things that'll get done before the end of the year. Um but that's why we hope people are staying tuned during, tuned in during this process as we sort of wrap up this congressional cycle. Uh a lot can get done in the final days of an of a sort of term, if you will, of Congress. And we, you know, we know that that's possible. And so I think we're we're really making sure that we're planning for it and that you all are able to, you know, weigh in as those decisions are being made.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Yeah, absolutely. I know another priority for local leaders and for members of Congress has been the 21st Century Road to Housing Act. And another key item on their to-do list is really the appropriations and the implementation of that. Um, and so staying focused on housing will also be a priority for this Congress as well as local leaders and getting that done. And then being focused on what's happening with addressing the implementation of the ruling coming from the Office of Management and Budget that will govern the federal grant process. So a lot of things on Congress's to-do list. It's really going to be a race to the finish line, but I know local leaders will continue to not just elevate their voices and give them practical, impactful solutions while they are at home in the district, but then remind them of that headed into the end of this year. So, you know, there's a lot of newly elected officials at the local level, Brittany and city staff who really are new to this process, not sure where to start. How would you recommend they go about setting up meetings with their congressional delegations during recess? And what has really been most impactful and has moved the needle with members of Congress that has resulted in getting these law, these reauthorizations uh off of Congress's to-do lists? What would you recommend?

SPEAKER_02 17:21

So, for city staff, the most important advice is to be a sounding board. Be someone who reaches out to share uh what's going on in your community. And that can be in in a lot of different formats. That could be an update. Uh, that could be, you know, here's a challenge we're trying to solve for. Uh, is there something that that you all can do in the congressional office to help us? Um, you can also, you know, be a positive voice for the things that Congress has accomplished. Um, you can say, you know, thank you for passing the Road to Housing Act. Thank you for including a moratorium in your budget uh bill that's that's moving forward here, um, an extension that includes sort of a pause on the OMB rule. Um that had some challenges, that we we anticipate that being something that needs more time and attention. That's a really positive element, too. So be sort of a a presence in in providing updates and then asking questions and and also saying thank you. Uh, I think that's a really nice way to start any relationship, uh, and particularly one where, you know, a lot of congressional offices get a lot of complaints coming in, right? Uh a lot of folks, you know, they they're they're definitely ready to say, hey, we got a problem over here. Um, let's fix it. And that's a much more productive conversation, but it I think it helps set um set us apart as local leaders. We're really Congress is partner, um, as you know, the the sort of the goals of our constitution lay out, you know, the role of states, the role of local governments, um, and the role of Congress, right? And so we are governing together. And as we govern together, it means that we are all partners in in making people's lives a little bit better. Um, all the functions of government are things that won't happen without us coming together to take care of those elements. And that's an important job that we have. And so I think also not thinking about the member of Congress or their their staff as someone who's you know remote and removed and and you know in charge of everything is a way to also humanize them and remind yourself that they are your partner in doing government work and making government work. And so we hope that you'll consider, you know, having that relationship that's more about a long-term sort of discussion about what's going on and how we can work together rather than sort of a territorial or political conversation, um, which certainly has a place, but maybe isn't really the way that cities conduct themselves when when doing business with congressional offices. It's more about partnership and how do we serve the same constituents, because that's who ultimately matters at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Right, right. Beautifully said. Thank you, Brittany, for that. And as you were talking, I was just thinking about there are a lot of people who feel as if they're members of Congress. They're not because their concerns or their priorities may not have aligned in the past or their voting record reflects one thing versus another. What's the most effective advice you would give to a local leader who feels like they're not going to be heard or feel like their priorities valued? What would you say to that local elected official who would say, you know, Brittany, I'm not sure it's actually worth my time? What would you say?

SPEAKER_02 21:10

I think it goes back to the idea that you're serving the same constituent. Um, and how can you come at that discussion or or suggestion in a way that shows where you have agreement? And perhaps um it isn't about maybe making sure that you agree in every way, uh, but it's about saying, this is the challenge. We agree that this is the problem. How would you like to fix it? And making that more of a dialogue and a partnership discussion about what we might be able to do about that, and to offer what you can in terms of your support and to think about it in a way that um maybe just comes back to uh that that level of service, right? Service is Is part of the game, whether you're a member of Congress or you're a city official. And so we want to be thoughtful about how do we, how do we get to that level of service? How do we get to outcomes that people care about? And it's also, I think, a fair thing to show that the community supports what you're talking about. If you have that in hand, then you're able to have a more effective conversation. In fact, the city of New Haven just this past week launched a new campaign to help engage the public on an issue that's very important to them called Move the Train, where they have uh blocked crossings happening in their in their community often. And so the community is very upset about that. And so this is a productive way uh to show the community support and actionable sort of ways to work with members of Congress. Um and we've had several of the members in that area say, you know what, we really do appreciate that this is an issue that, you know, is impacting your lives. Um, and it's something that we should support congressional action on. Um and so you start to see that tide turn, right? Where we're serving the same constituents, we're showing you what constituents want, um, and we're helping, you know, drive a drive an actual solution, uh, which by the way, uh the blocked crossings issue is one of the core things uh that was incorporated into uh the House Transportation Bill. It's called the Build to America 250 Act, celebrating our transportation during this 250th anniversary with a bipartisan bill that could become the future transportation bill we pass, hopefully, before the end of the year. Um, and inside of that is this opportunity uh to really evaluate block crossings, take actionable steps uh to mitigate that, and and ultimately to start, you know, making policy changes that impact us and the ground and will stop people from waiting, you know, how long at a blocked crossing as the train goes by for extended periods of time or or sometimes just sits there. So this is an issue that, you know, real world, real world example, how how we could get things done. Um, and so I I we love hearing more about your examples too. So if you're listening to this and you want to tell us about like some successes you've had um as you've tried to work a congressional issue, that you know, frankly, the rail policy is only made in Washington, DC. Um, there isn't a state or or local capability to regulate rail. And so, you know, if you have an example of something else like this that you've done, we love hearing about them because city leaders often uh have so many great projects they're working on, so many ways that they're innovating. Um, and it's always great to hear about them.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

Absolutely. Thank you so much. I I appreciate the um you encouraging local leaders to share their examples uh with us because we can take those and amplify them. But also I have to say it's the push for rail safety, it's the push and the focus on what's happening at the local level and what are the solutions that has allowed us to build support on both sides of the aisle in a bipartisan way to be able to move legislation. And so these conversations matter, especially when we can give specific circumstances, details, and what the solutions are that Congress can step in and be a valued partner are incredibly uh critical, uh, especially during this time. Brittany, I really want to thank you for joining us on CitSpeak. Uh, really appreciate your work as our lead transportation infrastructure advocate and working with our members. Uh, you continue to share useful information that we all uh that local leaders need to know and will find useful in guiding their conversations, regardless if they're brand new to public service or 30-year veterans. I know today they are walking away from having listened to this conversation, equipped with the strategies to set up their communities best for success and building relationships, uh strong relationships with their congressional delegation is imperative to that. So if you all have any questions or would like more information about a strategy that you can implement during uh Congress's recess, please email us at advocacy at nlc dot org. Once again, thank you for downloading and listening to City Speak. And thank you, Brittany, for joining us. It's great to have you. Thanks, Irma.

NLC 27:03

Thanks for listening to City Speak with Clarence Anthony. If you like the show, let us know. Share this episode with your friends, and make sure to subscribe. We're curious to hear what you think, what you want more of, and how we can improve. If you have feedback or an idea for a guest you'd like Clarence to sit down with, send us your thoughts at CityspeakPodcast at nlc.org. Join us next month for a new episode. Like and subscribe here or wherever you get your podcast. See you next time.