Municipal officials representing all regions of the state participated in the Florida League of Cities (FLC) federal advocacy trip known as the Federal Action Strike Team (FAST) Fly-In. More than 50 Florida municipal officials came together in the nation’s capital to meet with members of Florida’s congressional delegation and advocate for key federal issues that affect municipalities.
“The League’s FAST Fly-In trip allows us to have in-person conversations with members of Florida’s congressional delegation and build relationships that will strengthen Florida,” said FLC President Jolien Caraballo, vice mayor of the City of Port St. Lucie. “When local, state and federal officials work together, our residents benefit, and our communities thrive. We really appreciate the members of Congress meeting with us to discuss important issues impacting our local communities.”
During their time in Washington, D.C., local leaders advocated for reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and simplifying the federal infrastructure grants process. The group also focused its advocacy efforts on discussing key priority issues, including cybersecurity funding, community development block grants, tax exemption for municipal bonds and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) loan interest relief.
“Our Federal Action Strike Team had a successful trip to Washington, with the largest group of attendees to date,” said FAST Chair Anne Gerwig, mayor of the Village of Wellington. “Each participant brought a unique perspective to our meetings, which helped our congressional delegation better understand how the issues we discussed impact Florida’s cities. The direct communications with federal agencies, including the Department of Housing & Urban Development, the Office of the National Cyber Director and FEMA will help our local communities access federal resources and their processes.”
Before heading to Capitol Hill, representatives from the FLC and National League of Cities (NLC) federal advocacy team provided a federal briefing. The group met with most members of Florida’s congressional delegation, including Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rick Scott.
FAST members also met with the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, where they heard directly from federal agency representatives on housing resources, infrastructure funding opportunities, cybersecurity and FEMA disaster recovery.
