Senate Banking Committee Holds Hearing on Livable Communities Act

On June 9, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing on the Livable Communities Act of 2009, S. 1619, introduced by Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT).  The hearing witnesses included:  Jackie Nytes, City-County Councillor, City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, on behalf of the National League of Cities; Joe McKinney, Executive Director, Land-of-Sky Regional Council, Asheville, North Carolina, on behalf of the National Association of Development Organizations; Lyle Wray, Executive Director, Capital Region Council of Governments, Hartford, Connecticut, on behalf of the National Association of Regional Councils; and Julia W. Gouge, President, Board of County Commissioners, Carroll County, Maryland, on behalf of the National Association of Counties.  All four witnesses expressed strong support for the Livable Communities Act.  

Describing the need for his bill, Dodd said that shifting demographics and increases in population density necessitated increased interagency cooperation between the Department of Energy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Transportation.  Dodd said his bill is an inclusive initiative with flexible grants to address unique community needs regardless of urban or rural status.

Citing the need to quantify the benefits in transportation, housing, and environmental areas, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) requested concrete performance measurements before fully committing to fund the program.  In response, the panel said statistics show a 20 to 30 percent savings in infrastructure costs for local governments as well as an average savings of nearly $9,000 per year for a family with access to quality public transportation. 

Much of the hearing focused on incentivizing re-development of previously used “brown” sites.  Currently, the permit process and legal costs encourage developers to use new land for their investments rather than repurpose properties that have fallen into disrepair.  While the business costs involved with these green site developments are much lower than their brown site counterparts, local, state, and federal government obligations are not taken into account in these calculations.  Witnesses said the Livable Communities Act addresses this issue by incentivizing developers who use previously developed sites.

Dodd said he would like the Committee to mark up the bill before the end of the year, but did not give a specific date.