PROVIDENCE – Mayor David N. Cicilline travels to Washington, DC on Tuesday, October 27^th to advocate for targeted federal initiatives to fuel Providence’s economy and create immediate job opportunities for residents.  He’ll join a small group of mayors from across the country for a meeting with National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers.

The meeting is the result of a letter to President Barack Obama from the mayors earlier this month requesting a conference with Summers and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag.  The mayors wanted to make the case for important initiatives in the FY 2011 Budget that could create jobs immediately. 

In a joint letter President Obama, the mayors said they wanted to discuss “the severe fiscal stress and unprecedented unemployment rates within our cities” and the role the FY 2011 Federal Budget can play in addressing those critical concerns.  The mayors stated “metro economies are the engines of the nation’s future growth and will be key to the economic recovery.”

The letter recommends the following funding priorities to create jobs and address fiscal stress in cities:

• Fully fund the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG)
• Fully fund the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program at inflation adjusted dollars
• Fund the COPS Program at American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) levels
• Provide ARRA level funding for summer youth jobs
• Provide targeted fiscal relief for high unemployment cities and metro economies
• Provide additional funding for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Grant (TIGER) program

Earlier this month Mayor Cicilline met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari to make the case for a $39 million TIGER grant to fund a major ProvPort expansion project that could create1000 new jobs and generate more than $120 million in annual economic activity. 

The meeting with Summers will include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer.

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