Issue Position: Urban Agenda
Issue Position
Issue Position: Urban Agenda
Phil Steck understands that our Nation's future depends on the success of our cities, which have always been at the center of community life. The economic downturn, stagnant wages, and the rising cost of everything from health care to food to gas, has taken its toll. In the Capital Region, just as in other metropolitan areas, workers in urban areas are working harder, yet can afford less.
A Better Environment for Youth.
Youth in urban areas face greater challenges than ever before. We cannot afford to let children fall hopelessly behind. Federal leadership is required in the following areas:
Establishing universal pre-Kindergarten programs;
Giving schools the resources to remain open after hours so that community programs may be established as an alternative to the distractions and dangers of street life;
Making college affordable by giving students relief from student loans in exchange for public service.
Enacting a uniform nationwide gun law so that illegal guns are less available.
Lowering the Cost of Living for Urban Families.
A single-payer universal health insurance plan system would assure that no one would be forced into debt as a result of medical bills. Since everyone would be covered, there would be no need for the costly Medicaid system, which wastes scarce resources on administrative costs. Money that Counties would no longer need to spend on Medicaid would be freed up for much needed affordable local housing initiatives.
Affordable local housing initiatives.
In Albany County, 90% of the county property tax is currently spent on Medicaid. This money should instead be used to make the housing trust fund a reality not merely an under-funded, unfulfilled promise. Funds would also be available to make sure that local housing authorities have the resources they need to create and maintain a safe and clean environment.
Vacant and abandoned buildings.
We need to expand economic development beyond downtown business districts into residential neighborhoods. Our urban neighborhoods are beset with vacant and abandoned buildings that are a plague on our cities. In Congress, Phil will introduce legislation to make it easier for municipalities to acquire vacant homes and resell them to moderate-income families who will commit to rehabilitating the structures. Among other things, the homesteading family's property taxes would be used to subsidize the rehabilitation until the project was completed.
Focus on broader governmental policy to rebuild aged infrastructure. Every municipality in the 21st Congressional District has difficulty maintaining its streets, water, and sewer systems. Under the Bush Administration, similarly situated urban areas have been forced into competition for access to an ever-dwindling supply of federal grants. Instead, we need to have consistent national programs which recognize the widespread nature of urban blight and the need to rebuild our urban infrastructure. We must stop subsidizing suburban sprawl and put urban redevelopment projects on a fast track. Redevelopment of inner cities and underused brownfields should be a more economical alternative to building on virgin land.
Better Communication
Urban residents should never feel left out or left behind. Phil will be responsive and easily accessible to the district's urban communities. He will hold regular town hall meetings throughout the district where residents can be heard and express their concerns..
Suburbanization was in part the result of Federal policies - subsidization of highways and the oil industry and neglect of mass transportation. Now, with gas prices at record highs, making suburban housing increasingly unaffordable, and with the environmental costs of sprawl having become readily apparent, the stage is set for an urban renaissance. The Federal government should seize the moment to enact policies that will facilitate the urban renaissance. It is time for the pendulum to spring back toward urban revitalization.
Source