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Washington, DC—U.S. Rep. Michael A. Arcuri (NY-24) successfully offered an amendment that would help local communities streamline government and foster economic development during the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s consideration of the Economic Revitalization and Innovation Act of 2010 (H.R. 5897) this afternoon. 

The amendment, which was adopted unanimously, would amend the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Program to explicitly authorize EDA to make grants to counties and municipal governments to develop or implement government efficiency assessments.

“Because of declining population, many Upstate New York communities have a government structure designed to provide services to a far greater number of citizens than they currently have,” said Arcuri.  “These overlapping layers of government are often inefficient and do more to hamper economic development than foster it.  This amendment would provide funding to communities interested in streamlining local government to study and implement consolidation plans.”

H.R. 5897 already amends the TAG Program to clarify that its purpose is to assist communities dealing with conditions caused by excessive unemployment or population loss.  Arcuri’s amendment seeks to explicitly state that local government efficiency assessments are eligible for grants because access to funding for these studies can help communities identify more efficient ways to administer government functions and services.

Arcuri added, “Making local government more efficient will save taxpayers money and remove much of the red tape that hinders private business activity within these communities.”

The Economic Revitalization and Innovation Act of 2010 (H.R. 5897), which included Arcuri’s amendment, was reported favorably by the committee and could be considered by the full House of Representatives after the August District Work Period.

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