Our Advocacy
We believe sound policy advances and maintains strong communities. The MLC supports key initiatives that will help our cities, our businesses, our region, and our state develop and excel.
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Each year, the MLC puts together a legislative program to provide their legislative delegation guidance on key initiatives and MLC lobbyists advocate for the advancement of those key initiatives at the Capitol.
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2024 MLC Legislative Priorities:
Supporting Safer Communities
MLC supports empowering local elected leaders to effectively manage public safety issues in their communities by:
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Providing local control of Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
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Clarifying School Resource Officer (SRO) authority for use of force in school settings
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Reviewing the criteria used to assess PTSD duty disability claims and fully funding programs to support those injured in the line of duty
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Promoting Affordable Housing
Housing is a top priority for MLC cities. We support policies to help increase the production of and access to affordable options across the housing continuum, including:
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Expanding investments in Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH)
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Incenting cities’ development of “missing middle” housing options
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Encouraging locally led strategies to encourage affordable housing production
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Preserving local authority over land use decisions
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Investing in Infrastructure and Transportation
MLC supports greater, regionally balanced investments in transportation and infrastructure and sensible regulatory requirements, including:
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Giving cities the authority to collect street infrastructure fees so the costs of new development are not shifted to existing residents
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Passing a regionally balanced bonding package that includes significant investments in suburban communities
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Providing more flexible application of greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled assessment requirements on trunk highway projects
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Strengthening the State-Local Fiscal Partnership
MLC supports greater stability and predictability in the fiscal relationship between the state and local units of government. We support:
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Providing for more frequent review of the LGA formula recognizing the growing financial needs of cities in the state
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Simplifying the process for a sales tax exemption on construction materials for local governments
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Eliminating the moratorium on local sales tax authorizations
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Providing direct property tax relief to individuals and renters
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Preserving the integrity of the Fiscal Disparities program
