Legislative Priorities

APA's slogan, "Making Great Communities Happen," was chosen because it speaks to the work of building communities and the policies needed to ensure and promote high quality of life. Americans, no matter where they live, are basically interested in the same things. Is there adequate housing supply? Can the area's infrastructure satisfy the needs of the population? Is agricultural land available? Are sufficient lands set aside for recreation? Is the local economy robust? Is my neighborhood a safe and healthy place? In short, what are the best approaches for making great communities happen.

APA's policy advocacy efforts set the course for positive change in the nation's communities by giving direction to the actions of lawmakers, public officials, professional planners, and engaged citizens. The explosion of interest in and support for smart growth across the country is a reflection of the public's desire for better communities, planned development and public policies to support increased quality of life.

APA advocates policies at the federal and state level to improve planning in the nation's communities. Each year a set of legislative priorities are proposed by the Legislative and Policy Committee and adopted by the APA Board of Directors. These legislative priorities reflect the major areas of emphasis for APA's policy advocacy efforts. To implement these legislative priorities, APA has drafted a Federal Policy Agenda for the 110th Congress.

APA's legislative advocacy is based on policy guides. These guides are official statements of APA and the planning profession on critical public policy issues. While APA represents a diverse membership, it comes together around certain fundamental principles and policies that are necessary to promote and ensure the vitality of our communities. The policies in these guides represent the collective thinking of APA members and are statements of the importance of an issue and why it should be advanced to an audience beyond the profession.

APA has published a booklet summarizing our policy recommendations. The booklet, Public Policies to Make Great Communities, is a great tool for educating elected officials, policymakers, and citizens about planning and its role in improving quality of life. Copies are available online or by contacting the Government Affairs Department at govtaffairs@planning.org.

National Primary

• Protect Local Planning: Oppose efforts to expand "takings" doctrines and federal attempts to preempt local planning authority.
  
  
• Ensure water quality and improve water infrastructure investment: Increase federal funding for water infrastructure, increase accountability, target investment, and promote improved planning in sensitive areas.
  
  
• Reauthorize the Farm Bill: Incorporate sound planning principles and support increased land conservation, open space preservation, and rural planning.
  
  
• Support Community Redevelopment: Provide full funding for federal brownfields cleanup and redevelopment programs, modernize federal brownfields initiatives, and expand tax incentives for redevelopment.

National Secondary

• Expand Housing Choice: Address the nation's affordable housing crisis by adopting new tools including a national housing trust fund, tax incentives, and other mechanisms that complement and facilitate efforts to develop and manage quality housing affordable to low-income households.
  
  
• Support Rail and Public Transportation: Provide additional support for Amtrak in this year's reauthorization and expand investment in transit.
  
  
• Support Energy Choice: Include support for sustainability and energy efficiency initiatives including “green building” practices that use environmentally conscious design and construction.
  
  
• Fund Needed Infrastructure: Increase support for repair and modernization of vital existing municipal infrastructure in keeping with initiatives to revitalize and reinvest in downtown, developed neighborhoods, historic buildings, urban areas, and first suburbs.
  
  
• Expand Parks and Open Space: Provide resources and incentives for land conservation and park development; promote new public health strategies that address the linkage between land use, air quality, and overall physical health.
  
  
• Build Safe Communities: Support programs to provide resources for local governments to improve mitigation planning, modernize planning and building regulations, conduct critical infrastructure threat assessments, and acquire technology for advanced visualization and scenario planning. Ensure adequate implementation of national flood insurance reform and continue to support key disaster mitigation programs, such as flood map modernization and pre- and post-disaster mitigation funding.