On May 17, ICMA, in partnership with the six other “Big 7” state and local government organizations, jointly submitted a letter to the White House and U.S. Senate and House of Representatives leadership urging Congress to oppose H.R. 2146, the DATA Act, and S 1789, the 21st Century Postal Service Act. These proposed pieces of legislation would severely “restrict participation by federal employees in state and local conferences, meetings, and programs.”

While the bills are designed to “reduce wasteful spending and promote transparency” in the wake of the recent GSA conference expense controversy, the Big 7 organizations felt that the provisions contained in the proposed bills would have a chilling effect on the type of intergovernmental dialogue and cooperation that is required to identify solutions to shared policy challenges “that are vital to conserving shared resources and meeting public needs.”

“In an era of fiscal constraints, it is critical to keep the channels of communication open between federal, state, and local officials,” said Elizabeth K. Kellar, deputy executive director, ICMA.  “We need to strengthen, not reduce, the interactions we have with our federal partners.”

The letter was signed by the executive directors of all seven of the Big 7 state and local government public interest groups, which, in addition to ICMA, include the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, Council of State Governments, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, and U.S. Conference of Mayors.