For U.S. Conference of Mayors, ‘So Far, So Good’ With Trump

WASHINGTON — Mayors from around the nation at an event in the nation’s capital on Tuesday staked out some of the priorities they will push for at the federal level as President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Infrastructure investment, health care, public safety and immigration reform, were among the issues highlighted as the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting got underway. The city executives voiced a strong willingness to work with the incoming Trump administration and presented the conference’s interactions with the president-elect so far in a positive light.

“When we reached out and said we’d really like a meeting, within a month we were in Trump Tower and he was meeting with us, addressing our concerns,” said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett at a morning press conference. Cornett, a Republican who is the current president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, added: “So far, so good.”

But there were also hints of friction.

“We represent over two-thirds of American citizens,” said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, a Democrat. “Everyone is welcome in our cities. They are not the dark, foreboding places that people have talked about. The president-elect in this regard paints with too broad a brush.”

Trump has at times used negatively charged language to describe the nation’s cities.

In a tweet on Saturday, Trump said that U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat who the president-elect has sparred with in recent days, “should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S.” Trump added in the tweet: “I can use all the help I can get!”

Trump will be sworn in on Friday.

Infrastructure

Upgrading infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and waterworks, is a chief priority for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Likewise, the president-elect has identified improving the nation’s infrastructure as one of his top agenda items. Ideas outlined by Trump’s team during the campaign included calls for tax credits and private investment to help provide an influx of funding on this front.

Asked about Trump’s infrastructure proposals and calls for more private sector involvement in public works, Cornett indicated that he was eager for the incoming administration to share more specifics. “We just would like to see a plan,” he said.

He explained that while cities are concerned about where the money comes from to pay for infrastructure, they are also interested in how it is distributed. “We’d like to see more of the dollars that do come out of Washington go directly to cities,” Cornett said.

That’s opposed to money for infrastructure flowing through state governments, then to localities.

Tied to infrastructure, is a federal income tax exemption for interest earned on municipal bonds.

This type of debt is commonly issued by state and local governments to finance public works projects. The tax exemption is believed to keep borrowing costs down. Critics say it costs the federal government money in foregone tax revenues, while benefitting investors.

Defenders of the exemption worry that it could get nixed, or capped by federal lawmakers.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is one of the groups that advocates for the tax break.

During the meeting Cornett referred to at Trump Tower, the president-elect was said to have offered support for keeping the exemption in place.

“This is something that’s been in the air for quite some time,” said Mayor Stephen Benjamin of Columbia, South Carolina. “We don’t want anyone messing with our municipal bonds.”

Health Care

The mayors spoke on a day when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a report saying the number of uninsured people in the U.S. would go up by 18 million in a year’s time if significant portions of the Affordable Care Act were eliminated and not replaced. Congressional Republicans and Trump have vowed to repeal the health care law, also known as Obamacare.

Landrieu weighed in on the matter. “You can’t replace a plan with something that’s worse or nothing at all,” he said. “We stand ready and willing to work with and or against the administration to make sure that more people have better health care for less money.”

Cornett said that in Oklahoma City it was around last October when some people began to see premiums under the Affordable Care Act “escalate wildly.” He added: “Back in 2009, this organization endorsed what is now known as Obamacare. At the time, I don’t even know that we knew what was in it. And I’m not sure a lot of us know what’s in it today.”

But he said that by backing the law, the conference showed it was supportive of federal policies that provide some access to health care for those with pre-existing conditions, and that allow for young adults to remain on their parents' insurance plans.

“America’s looking at health care as a crisis situation,” Cornett said. “Who we cover, and how we cover, and how much it’s going to cost the people that live in our cities are very important issues.”

Law Enforcement and Immigration

In terms of law enforcement, Landrieu said the Conference of Mayors endorsed plans for more police officers on the streets, expanded grants to help prevent and respond to terrorist attacks, investments in mental health and substance abuse services, aggressive efforts to reduce gun violence, and reforms to the nation’s criminal justice system.

The mayors at the press conference also touched on immigration. Trump has taken a hardline position on the topic, saying he would crack down in various ways on those living in the U.S. illegally, while also moving to build a wall along the nation’s southern border with Mexico.

As he outlined the Conference of Mayors’ priorities, Landrieu presented a counterpoint to the sometimes harsh rhetoric the president-elect has used discussing the issue.

“We all believe in commonsense immigration reform,” he said. “We were built as a nation of immigrants. Stoking fear amongst the immigrant population, in my opinion, is not going to work. We all agree that there’s no room for anyone here who commits a violent crime.”

While Landrieu acknowledged that federal immigration laws must be upheld, he added: “Police departments of America are not going to become the deportation forces for the federal government.”

Reaching consensus on how to solve problems related to health care and immigration, the New Orleans mayor said, would “require the adults to show up in the room.”