December 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 34

ADVOCACy UPDAtE
continued from page 29

" we know how diﬃcult it is when
parks and playgrounds are competing
with video games and social
networking sites. "
-First Lady Michelle Obama
in a 2010 address on
childhood obesity.

8 percent. Considering that in 2009 the
National Park Service reported $12 billion in unmet needs at the state and local level, it seems reasonable to expect
the proposed increase to the State Assistance Program would be more than 1
percent in FY11 when compared to the

10 percent increase recommended for
federal land acquisition.

Anti-Obesity Funding
On March 16, 2010, the Federal Register posted a notice for public comment
regarding First Lady Michelle Obama's

A DVO C AC Y B R I E F I N G

Mid-term Election Results
House (239 R-189 D-7 U):
■ Democrats retained 185 seats
■ Democrats took 3 seats
■ Undecided 7 seats (the California 11th and

20th Districts, Illinois 8th, Kentucky 6th,
New York 1st and 25th, and Texas 27th. All
7 seats are currently held by Democrats.)
■ GOP took 63 seats
■ GOP retained 176 seats

Senate (53 D-46 R-1 U):
■ Democrats retained 53 seats
■ Democrats took 0 seats
■ GOP took 7 seats
■ GOP retained 40 seats

The 2010 elections resulted in the largest party turn-over since 1948 (numbers
as of Nov. 8 with seven races still undecided). Fiscally conservative democrats,
a.k.a. " Blue Dogs, " lost more than half of
their 58 members in the 2010 election.
30 Parks & Recreation

DECEMBER 2010

James Oberstar (D-MN), who has
served in Congress since 1975 and is
chairman of the House Transportation
and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, lost
his re-election bid. Rep. John Mica (R-FL)
is likely to be the new chair of the T&I
Committee. While Mica is a noted supporter of trails in his community, the fiscal reality of a rapidly depleting highway
trust fund will certainly play a significant
role in shaping the next transportation reauthorization and funding for trails.
Rep. John Kline (R-MN) is expected
to take over as chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, the committee with jurisdiction over the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
reauthorization and No Child Left Inside
(NCLI). The Senate will not see a change
in leadership of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, as
www.NRPA .ORG

Tom Harkin (D-IA), a supporter of parks
and recreation, will remain chairman.
The reauthorization of ESEA, the vehicle
for NCLI, is expected to be challenging
and questionable in the 112th Congress
as various Republicans and newly elected Tea Party members oppose increased
federal education spending.
Post-election reports indicate the
electoral shift was fueled primarily by
concerns about economic recovery, job
creation, and calls for greater fiscal discipline. These perspectives will have a role
in forming national policy in the shortterm, including calls for cuts in federal
spending. Therefore, full and dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund may be more difficult to
achieve.

-stacey Pine, NRPA Chief
Government Affairs officer

AP Photo/PABlo MARtINEZ
MoNsIvAIs

every state receives funding, and then
these funds are passed down to the community level.
The original LWCF authorization in
1965 specified that the State Assistance
Program share would be 60 percent, so
if honored it would receive $260 million
in FY11. As part of the February 2009 release of the President's budget for FY10,
the Interior Department's description
called for full and dedicated funding for
the LWCF by 2014, which would equate
to $900 million total. However, the proposed budget included approximately
$420 million for LWCF with $30 million
for Stateside. Federal land acquisition
was 47 percent of the total DOI budget.
Stateside was 7 percent. The February
1, 2010, release of the President's FY11
budget proposed just $434 million for
LWCF, and only $50 million of that for
Stateside. Federal land acquisition for
FY11 was 57 percent of the total proposed amount for LWCF. Stateside was

December 2010 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2010 - Parks & Recreation