Members of the Adams County delegation David Carter, Angela Gibson-Hutchins, Calvin Butler, Thomas O’Beirne, Scott Slover and I helped carry the county government message to Capitol Hill this past week during the National Association of Counties’ 2012 Legislative Conference.

We were joined by more than 1,400 other county officials from across the country to convey to Congress and administration officials the great challenges faced by county governments to continue to deliver essential services to the American people in an improving, yet still troubled, economy. The conference was March 3 through 7 in Washington, D.C.

The gathering provided NACo, the only national organization devoted to the collective interests of the nation’s counties, the opportunity to sharpen its message to the federal government that counties are playing a key role in helping communities grow their local economies, create jobs and improve the quality of life of the American people.

During the five-day conference, county officials debated and set policies on issues and legislation important to counties and communities. The issues include justice and public safety, agriculture and rural affairs, taxes, environment and energy, telecommunications, economic and community development, health care, human services, education, labor and employment, public lands and transportation. I sit on the justice committee of NACo.

One of my favorite workshop sessions that I attended along with Chancery Clerk Thomas O’Beirne was, “How to Run a Meeting.” There were several panelists and all were attorneys from various parts of the country. The most interesting thing was “county government diversity” in operating a board meeting based on how the state laws delegate county boards. But there were some universal protocols that are applicable to all county boards and that of course would be Robert’s Rules of Order when bylaws don’t apply. I personally learned a lot from this particular workshop session that will benefit me and my board in county government. I along with other Adams County supervisors and Attorney Slover attended other beneficial workshop sessions: health care, legal workforce and farm market.

Just to give you a reason why these sessions are beneficial to our county, several years ago, from attending these workshops at NACo, I brought the Discount Drug Card Program to Adams County, which has saved residents in Adams County thousands of dollars every year.

Further, a priority issue at the NACo Legislative Conference was transportation infrastructure. A new NACo survey of county engineers found that the nation’s roads and bridges, nearly half of which are under the financial control of local governments, are in desperate need of federal assistance for long-delayed maintenance and repair work, which would help create jobs in communities across the country.

Major findings of the survey report, “Fixing It: Infrastructure and the Economy,” include the following:

4 81 percent of responding county engineers report that they have deferred maintenance since the beginning of the economic slowdown.

4 98 percent report that some of their roads are in poor and/or fair condition.

4 86 percent report having bridges in poor condition.

4 91 percent say that the receipt of infrastructure funding would help create jobs.

The survey findings draw attention to the failure of Congress — under the leadership of both political parties — to pass a multiyear reauthorization of the surface transportation bill which since 1956 has provided federal funds for road construction and maintenance.

Another legislative priority is support of full funding of all titles in the 2012 reauthorization of the Farm Bill. County officials are calling on Congress and the administration to place particular emphasis on crafting a bill that provides enhanced resources to rural development programs and strategies that promote rural prosperity.

County officials also urged Congress to support legislative initiatives — such as The Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 1832) — that would allow counties to recover revenues due from purchases made by remote means. The Marketplace Fairness Act is a bipartisan bill, sponsored by Sen. Michael Enzi (R‐Wyo.) and Sen. Dick Durbin, that seeks to provide two options for remote sales tax collection.

Also during the conference, county officials heard from many national leaders, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), Transportation Secretary Ray H. LaHood, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and political commentators Tucker Carlson and Eleanor Clift. In addition, Ambassador Ron Kirk, U.S. Trade Representative, addressed the NACo International Economic Development Task Force.

We also had very good meetings with our congressional delegation and their staffers: Sen. Thad Cochran (staff only), Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Gregg Harper.

Request for funding primary on erosion projects were made to our delegation, updates on projects were given to them by our delegation. We had good meetings with our delegation. I consider the trip very beneficial to Adams County.

 

Darryl V. Grennell is the president of the Adams County Board of Supervisors.