| Written by Melissa Bondi, on August 05, 2011 |
Now all eyes turn to Capitol Hill
Earlier this summer, the District of Columbia adopted its FY12 budget, bringing this year’s Think Twice Before You Slice Campaign season to a close. We’re proud of our partnerships with nonprofit organizations, residents, the philanthropic community and many others who participated in collective advocacy.
From Northern Virginia to suburban Maryland, our network encompassed three state budgets and seven local jurisdictions. Together with our partners across the region, nonprofit and client advocacy led to the restoration or increased funding totaling more than $45 million in critical safety net services.
Our formula for success was simple -- we worked together with a diverse set of allies, and the residents they serve, to tell their stories to decision-makers, to demonstrate the value of programs and services, and to participate in local budget advocacy, in greater numbers and to greater effect than ever before.
With a guiding vision of “Think Regionally, Lead Locally,” our strategy focused on simple regional themes of preserving revenues and prioritizing local investment, customized to each jurisdiction’s priorities, challenges and needs. In light of the especially difficult economic climate we face in FY12, the coordinated strategy among key partners from across the region was critical to our success.
It's no secret that our current economic recession made budget decisions
that reflect community priorities extremely challenging - for our
country and in our region.
Throughout this year, deadlock on Capitol Hill and local press headlines
remind us of the unpredictability of federal and state resources,
including programs and services we’ve relied upon for decades to meet
the needs of our communities. Their choices have a direct impact on the
Washington Metropolitan region’s fiscal stability, employment and
economic activity.
The cumulative effect of these conditions risks abandoning entire
communities of people who contribute significantly to the local economy,
but through circumstance need bridges to survive a week, a month, or a
season of unemployment, lost housing or a health emergency.
Fundamentally, our Metro region is in jeopardy, falling short in
supporting its struggling residents in the areas of energy assistance,
child care, employment and workforce development, access to housing,
food and public health, and other support. This places our region’s
complex economic security and long-term sustainability at risk.
We applaud those local leaders who acknowledged the reality of our
collective economic situation, making choices that reflect the need to
support residents with critical programs while maintaining a balance of
cuts and revenues. Several jurisdictions genuinely investigated a full
range of possible solutions, from resolving structural deficits and
considering new revenue-generating measures to reviewing spending across
every department and scrutinizing abatement programs that reduce
available dollars. If our challenges are extraordinary, our approach to solutions should reflect some new paradigms, too.
The nonprofit, philanthropy and business sectors have been important
anchors to supporting a robust, stable community. Working together,
government, nonprofits, philanthropy and business create a robust,
stable community and support families and individuals whose local
employment and spending activity is fundamental to our recovery.
If federal and state resources continue to diminish, we must pursue new,
progressive methods of generating revenue to mitigate the impact of
severe cuts to fundamental services for thousands of our region’s
individuals and families, without whom our economic recovery cannot be
sustained.
Local governments, nonprofit organizations and our low-income,
vulnerable neighbors continue to face extraordinary challenges, with
greater demand and fewer resources than ever before. Without a
collaborative, regional approach, our achievements in FY12 would not
have been possible. Your efforts to inform, guide and support the Think Twice campaign have been fundamental to our shared victories.
In the coming months, we will continue to monitor local revenue
projections and the ongoing negotiations between Congress and the White
House and their potential impacts on nonprofit organizations and the
residents we serve. We must continue to raise our voices, together,
to urge our leaders across the region to make choices that will protect
the strength of our Metro region strong, while promoting a sustainable,
economic recovery for everyone.
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