CYPRESS : City Backs Reform of Unfunded Mandates

If Congress passes a law aimed at cities, it should also pay the bill.

That’s the message the City Council is sending to California’s members of Congress.

The council unanimously voted last week to join other cities throughout the nation in attacking “unfunded mandates.”

Such mandates are federal laws or regulations that require spending by cities but are not reimbursed by the federal government.

City Manager Darrell Essex, in memo to the council, recommended that Mayor Richard Partin be authorized “to transmit letters to the appropriate federal legislators, urging the passage of the Federal Mandate Accountability and Reform Act.”

That measure is designed to halt unfunded federal requirements imposed on cities.

Partin’s letter, urging federal lawmakers to pass the reform act before adjourning this year, says: “Federal mandates require compliance regardless of other pressing local needs and priorities affecting the health, welfare and safety of our citizens. Mandates require us to raise local taxes and fees or cut services to meet federal priorities.”

The National League of Cities, based in Washington, is coordinating nationwide efforts to pressure Congress for relief from unfunded federal requirements.

In a letter to the City Council, the league said: “We must continue to increase the public’s awareness about (unfunded) mandates and organize at the grass-roots level to force the federal government to respond to our concerns.”