January 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 19

After the Cliff

ADVOCACY

BY TUSHAR GURJAL

NRPA legislative priorities for the 113th Congress

ITH THE DAWN OF EACH NEW YEAR, there is always hope for a brighter future. The same is
true in Washington, where each new Congress brings with it fresh hopes of a productive session. Thanks to hard-line partisans and a generally unproductive 112th Congress, the future
can only be brighter, as elected officials would be hard pressed to compromise any less than they have over
the past two years. The 113th Congress offers both new opportunities and potential pitfalls for park and recreation priorities. Taking advantage of these opportunities will require tremendous advocacy efforts, but,
with the strong participation of park and recreation advocates, anything is possible.

Where We Are
Understanding the current state of the budget is important before seeing how budget negotiations could
affect park and recreation priorities. Although the new
Congress begins in January 2013, the federal ﬁscal
year began in October 2012. Not wanting to debate
the budget before a presidential election, Congress
passed a Continuing Resolution (CR)-a bill that funds
the federal government and all its programs at similar levels to those already in place for a ﬁxed period
of time, usually less than a year. This CR keeps most
programs funded at the same level as FY 2012 plus
a small (0.0612 percent) increase. It will be in effect
until March 2013.
The President and Congress also worked to avoid
the " ﬁ scal cliff. " In 2011, as part of a deal between
Congress and the President, both branches agreed
to a series of severe automatic spending cuts and
revenue increases to take place in January 2013
if a way to cut the deﬁcit was not found. At the
11th hour, Congress and the President came to a
minor agreement about some cuts and a few possible revenue increases, while kicking the longterm deﬁcit issue until March 2013, which they
hope will give them time to hammer out a broader agreement.

Key Priorities
While the " ﬁscal cliff " still represents a potential pitfall
in the coming year, the following programs represent
opportunities for the park and recreation community. The Land and Water Conservation Fund State
Assistance Program represents an opportunity for
increased funding. A new surface transportation

bill that the 113th Congress is sure to take up represents an opportunity for trails advocacy. Finally,
the No Child Left Inside Act and the Urban Revitalization and Livable Communities Act represent
opportunities for greater environmental education
and greener urban areas.

Land and Water Conservation Fund
State Assistance Program
As the only federal program that provides funding
dedicated to state and local parks and recreation, the
Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) State Assistance Program is a key NRPA legislative priority. The LWCF is a fund that
was established in 1965 and is paid for
The 113th
by the royalties received by the federal
Congress
government by leasing land for offshore oil and gas development on the
offers both new
Outer Continental Shelf. Money from
opportunities
the fund is used for both a federal land
and potential
acquisition program and a state assispitfalls for park
tance program. The state assistance
program provides matching grants
and recreation
to states and local governments for
priorities.
the acquisition and development of
public outdoor recreation areas and
facilities. The goal of the program is to
create high quality recreation program areas and facilities, while simultaneously encouraging local governments to invest in recreation resources across the
country. The rationale behind the fund is that money
made from permanently extracting federal resources
should be reinvested into protecting natural resources
within the country.
WWW.NRPA.ORG | JANUARY 2013 |

Parks & Recreation

January 2013 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2013 - Parks & Recreation