Mayors Seek to Educate Congress on Block Grants

President Clinton’s deficit-reduction plan was criticized Friday by mayors who say it jeopardizes vital community development money and raises the prospect that they will lose other types of federal funding too.

The mayors, gathered here for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, feel reductions are inevitable for the Community Development Block Grant program, a $4-billion pool of federal money dispensed to cities for a range of purposes, from buying firetrucks to encouraging economic development.

Clinton’s proposal, unveiled earlier this week, does not address the grants. Plans in Congress would trim community development grants by 20% to 50%.

By neither cutting nor rescuing the grants, the President left mayors uncertain of what to expect in the next budget. If the grants are left intact, funds for other programs, such as aid for the homeless, would surely be cut. But if Clinton also proposes reductions to the grant program, cities could be forced to raise taxes to compensate.

“It’s one of the most difficult kind of decisions we have to make,” said Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, incoming president of the mayors conference.

Galvanized, mayors have embarked on an intense “educational process” to explain to members of Congress how important the community block grants are to the people back home.

“This has been a good program. It’s one that people can really look up to,” said Elizabeth Rhea, mayor of Rock Hill, S.C., where grants helped pay for sidewalks, recreation centers and improved water and sewer systems in low-income areas.

Adding sting to the injury is the fact that local governments still are grappling with unfunded federal mandates, laws with which they must comply at their own expense.

Earlier this year, Congress approved a bill that would eliminate such mandates. But local governments still must comply with existing ones, and they take up a huge chunk of city budgets, said conference President Victor Ashe, mayor of Knoxville, Tenn.

“They should not cut funding while at the same time continue to handcuff us, from a fiscal standpoint, with mandates,” Ashe said. “That’s a double whammy.”

Two Republican presidential candidates, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas and former Education Secretary Lamar Alexander, are scheduled to address the conference.

California Gov. Pete Wilson, another GOP presidential contender, was scheduled to speak to the conference, but his continuing voice problems have forced him to cancel the address, organizers said.

Clinton will address the group via satellite on Tuesday.