WP_Query Object ( [query] => Array ( [name] => local-policy-issues [post_type] => resources [resource-type] => blog ) [query_vars] => Array ( [name] => local-policy-issues [post_type] => resources [resource-type] => blog [error] => [m] => [p] => 0 [post_parent] => [subpost] => [subpost_id] => [attachment] => [attachment_id] => 0 [pagename] => [page_id] => 0 [second] => [minute] => [hour] => [day] => 0 [monthnum] => 0 [year] => 0 [w] => 0 [category_name] => [tag] => [cat] => [tag_id] => [author] => [author_name] => [feed] => [tb] => [paged] => 0 [meta_key] => [meta_value] => [preview] => [s] => [sentence] => [title] => [fields] => [menu_order] => [embed] => [category__in] => Array ( ) [category__not_in] => Array ( ) [category__and] => Array ( ) [post__in] => Array ( ) [post__not_in] => Array ( ) [post_name__in] => Array ( ) [tag__in] => Array ( ) [tag__not_in] => Array ( ) [tag__and] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__in] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__and] => Array ( ) [post_parent__in] => Array ( ) [post_parent__not_in] => Array ( ) [author__in] => Array ( ) [author__not_in] => Array ( ) [search_columns] => Array ( ) [ignore_sticky_posts] => [suppress_filters] => [cache_results] => 1 [update_post_term_cache] => 1 [update_menu_item_cache] => [lazy_load_term_meta] => 1 [update_post_meta_cache] => 1 [posts_per_page] => 10 [nopaging] => [comments_per_page] => 50 [no_found_rows] => [order] => DESC ) [tax_query] => [meta_query] => WP_Meta_Query Object ( [queries] => Array ( ) [relation] => [meta_table] => [meta_id_column] => [primary_table] => [primary_id_column] => [table_aliases:protected] => Array ( ) [clauses:protected] => Array ( ) [has_or_relation:protected] => ) [date_query] => [queried_object] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 10852 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2023-09-19 15:11:57 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-09-19 15:11:57 [post_content] => For many organizations, watching legislation doesn’t mean just monitoring Congress and state legislatures. It means city and county councils, too. Local government impacts almost every industry in some way. Organizations in construction, education, energy, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, transportation and utilities are all partially regulated by city and county governments. Teams that are not monitoring the local level are only seeing part of the picture. At the same time, veteran public affairs professionals know that working with local governments can be tricky, and not only because the action takes place year-round. Advocacy efforts can be highly effective at the local level, where a few hundred grassroots communications can resonate loudly. Yet local officials sometimes resent outsiders who treat local affairs with a heavy hand. It’s a line to walk very carefully. If you are thinking about engaging locally, here are some top local policy issues that will be active in coming months and where city and county government will play a pivotal role.

Infrastructure Investment

When Congress passed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in late 2021, it directed more than $550 billion to improve roads, bridges, airports, broadband access, marine ports, water and sewer systems, and much more. In many cases, the investment was historic. Local government often plays a key role in infrastructure projects, which are sometimes funded with a combination of local, state and federal money. As the officials with the most intimate knowledge of how infrastructure impacts constituents, mayors and council members often have a lot of sway over what gets built and how it is architected. Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans who is now in charge of infrastructure for the Biden administration, told The New Republic this year that roughly $200 billion has been allocated across more than 20,000 projects in all 50 states. That means infrastructure is likely to remain a hot topic in cities and counties almost everywhere.

Next-Generation Transportation

The infrastructure bill also made the largest investment in public transit in American history, according to the White House. It contained the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak in 1971. From electric vehicle charging stations to electric school buses, billions of dollars will flow to transportation, which is likely to be a major issue for local officials. Local government is a major player in transportation, from the operation of city buses to the installation of EV chargers at libraries and other public buildings. Leaders at the local level will decide, at least in part, how to use the new federal funds.

Affordable Housing

Rising interest rates, reduced housing stock, slowing construction and increasing costs have combined to make home ownership more difficult, according to a report this year by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, which was co-sponsored by Habitat for Humanity. An increasing number of people are being locked out of the housing market. The supply of single-family homes for sale in 2022 was 30% lower than in 2019, according to the report. The number of first-time home buyers in 2022 also dropped by 22% over the previous year. At the same time, the cost of home ownership increased. In 2021, more than one in five homeowners spent a third of their income—and 10% spent more than half their income—on housing. This year, the annual income required to cover the median costs of home ownership rose 20% to $117,000, which is higher than the median household income for families in many states. Municipalities can address home ownership by enacting policies that make it easier to build affordable housing. Zoning laws can allow building on smaller lots. Building departments can make permitting cheaper and easier. Affordable housing policies will be a major issue in many communities.

Homeless Relief

America’s homeless population is up since 2017, increasing by 6 percent overall, according to a 2023 study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. More than 421,000 people were homeless in the U.S. in 2022, including almost 128,000 who are chronically homeless. Both are historic numbers. Caring for the homeless is often a duty that falls to city and county governments, and will be a major part of the agenda in places where homeless rates are high. In 2022, Humboldt County, California, had the highest per-capita rate at 121 for every 10,000 residents. Cities with high housing costs were also more likely to have high homeless populations, including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland and Seattle.

Immigration Policy

Cities and counties have a large role to play in immigration policy for many reasons. Municipal services such as police, courts, healthcare and education all have a direct impact on America’s undocumented population, and how local governments set policy in these areas can substantially shape U.S. immigration policy on the ground. One issue to watch is sanctuary policy, meaning cities that maintain autonomy when it comes to enforcing immigration laws, sometimes declining to cooperate with the federal government to enforce immigration laws. While cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco have long identified as sanctuary cities, other municipalities continue to legislate on these issues. In places where illegal immigration is high, particularly on the U.S. southern border, cities and counties are likely to be active in setting policy.

Crime and Policing

From gun control to police procedure, cities and counties have a great deal of sway over law enforcement and policies that address crime. Indeed, most police and sheriff departments are local, funded by municipal budgets. In today’s world, mass shootings are becoming more common, gun control is a hot topic and race relations are an ever-present part of the national conversation. How local government treats law enforcement issues makes headlines—particularly when partisan politics are involved—and will continue to do so in the months ahead.

Pandemic Recovery

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the U.S., local governments played a major role in everything from vaccination policy to mask requirements and business closures. Now, those issues are largely behind us, but that doesn’t mean that local officials are done with pandemic-related decisions. The federal Public Health Emergency that enabled many national pandemic policies has come to an end, which will have repercussions for local governments. For example, Medicaid programs practiced continuous enrollment during the pandemic, meaning recipients did not need to re-enroll annually. The result was that America’s uninsured population shrunk to an all time low. Now, those programs are returning to normal operation, which means that recipients will have to re-enroll every year. The result is that millions of people will lose Medicaid insurance, including many who remain eligible. The burden of that change will be partially shouldered by local governments. Cities and counties are often directly involved in providing public benefits to their residents, meaning they will be partially responsible for re-enrollment. At the same time, rising numbers of uninsured can have a major impact on city and county healthcare facilities. City and county councils will likely be addressing pandemic decisions for years to come.

Education Policy

American schools, which are regulated by state and federal government but controlled locally, have been flashpoints for social issues that dominate the national conversation. Mass shootings, transgender rights, sex education, standardized testing, and how race is discussed in the classroom are only a few of the issues being fought at local school boards. These issues, some of which are prone to make national news, come at a difficult time for school districts. The pandemic represented the largest disruption to public education in a generation, with millions of children experiencing learning loss and falling below grade level in reading and math. That means schools are already struggling to adjust classroom learning, assessments and other systems to perform in a post-pandemic world. Organizations that track education policy, or issues that tend to play out before school boards, are likely to be busy in coming months.

Labor Shortage

The United States is experiencing a labor shortage, with more jobs available than there are workers to fill them. An analysis in August by Curtis Dubay, chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, showed there were 3.6 million more job openings than unemployed workers. However, the impact of the shortage can vary widely by industry and geography. For example, Montana is severely impacted, with only 46 workers available for every 100 jobs, according to the Chamber. Texas is less so, with 89 workers per 100 jobs. The shortage is likely to impact local government, sometimes directly. Like companies in their locale, government agencies themselves can have trouble hiring. Teachers are a good example. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in late 2022 that 45% of public schools were operating without a full teaching staff. Polling and other studies show that teachers continue to be unhappy in their work and looking to change jobs. Whether trying to attract a larger labor force or trying to hire, city and county councils are likely to be dealing with workforce issues in the months ahead.

Local Elections

Dozens of mayors and scores of council members will be elected in 2023 and 2024, meaning that municipal races will color many of the issues that local governments decide in coming months. For organizations that work on local issues, elections can complicate an already daunting workload, with issues appearing in many permutations across thousands of jurisdictions. Organizations that are serious about local work employ the same effective strategies that work in state legislatures or Congress. They hire local advisors and lobbyists, use local constituents to communicate and employ professional legislative tracking software to learn quickly when issues arise. If your organization wants to build a local advocacy program, Quorum can help. From meeting and agenda tracking to social media monitoring and contacts for more than 75,000 local officials, Quorum can provide the right tools. [post_title] => 10 Top Local Policy Issues to Watch—Or You May Miss Something Important [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => local-policy-issues [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-09-19 15:13:13 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-09-19 15:13:13 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://marketing-staging.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=10852 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [queried_object_id] => 10852 [request] => SELECT wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.post_name = 'local-policy-issues' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'resources' ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC [posts] => Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 10852 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2023-09-19 15:11:57 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-09-19 15:11:57 [post_content] => For many organizations, watching legislation doesn’t mean just monitoring Congress and state legislatures. It means city and county councils, too. Local government impacts almost every industry in some way. Organizations in construction, education, energy, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, transportation and utilities are all partially regulated by city and county governments. Teams that are not monitoring the local level are only seeing part of the picture. At the same time, veteran public affairs professionals know that working with local governments can be tricky, and not only because the action takes place year-round. Advocacy efforts can be highly effective at the local level, where a few hundred grassroots communications can resonate loudly. Yet local officials sometimes resent outsiders who treat local affairs with a heavy hand. It’s a line to walk very carefully. If you are thinking about engaging locally, here are some top local policy issues that will be active in coming months and where city and county government will play a pivotal role.

Infrastructure Investment

When Congress passed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in late 2021, it directed more than $550 billion to improve roads, bridges, airports, broadband access, marine ports, water and sewer systems, and much more. In many cases, the investment was historic. Local government often plays a key role in infrastructure projects, which are sometimes funded with a combination of local, state and federal money. As the officials with the most intimate knowledge of how infrastructure impacts constituents, mayors and council members often have a lot of sway over what gets built and how it is architected. Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans who is now in charge of infrastructure for the Biden administration, told The New Republic this year that roughly $200 billion has been allocated across more than 20,000 projects in all 50 states. That means infrastructure is likely to remain a hot topic in cities and counties almost everywhere.

Next-Generation Transportation

The infrastructure bill also made the largest investment in public transit in American history, according to the White House. It contained the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak in 1971. From electric vehicle charging stations to electric school buses, billions of dollars will flow to transportation, which is likely to be a major issue for local officials. Local government is a major player in transportation, from the operation of city buses to the installation of EV chargers at libraries and other public buildings. Leaders at the local level will decide, at least in part, how to use the new federal funds.

Affordable Housing

Rising interest rates, reduced housing stock, slowing construction and increasing costs have combined to make home ownership more difficult, according to a report this year by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, which was co-sponsored by Habitat for Humanity. An increasing number of people are being locked out of the housing market. The supply of single-family homes for sale in 2022 was 30% lower than in 2019, according to the report. The number of first-time home buyers in 2022 also dropped by 22% over the previous year. At the same time, the cost of home ownership increased. In 2021, more than one in five homeowners spent a third of their income—and 10% spent more than half their income—on housing. This year, the annual income required to cover the median costs of home ownership rose 20% to $117,000, which is higher than the median household income for families in many states. Municipalities can address home ownership by enacting policies that make it easier to build affordable housing. Zoning laws can allow building on smaller lots. Building departments can make permitting cheaper and easier. Affordable housing policies will be a major issue in many communities.

Homeless Relief

America’s homeless population is up since 2017, increasing by 6 percent overall, according to a 2023 study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. More than 421,000 people were homeless in the U.S. in 2022, including almost 128,000 who are chronically homeless. Both are historic numbers. Caring for the homeless is often a duty that falls to city and county governments, and will be a major part of the agenda in places where homeless rates are high. In 2022, Humboldt County, California, had the highest per-capita rate at 121 for every 10,000 residents. Cities with high housing costs were also more likely to have high homeless populations, including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland and Seattle.

Immigration Policy

Cities and counties have a large role to play in immigration policy for many reasons. Municipal services such as police, courts, healthcare and education all have a direct impact on America’s undocumented population, and how local governments set policy in these areas can substantially shape U.S. immigration policy on the ground. One issue to watch is sanctuary policy, meaning cities that maintain autonomy when it comes to enforcing immigration laws, sometimes declining to cooperate with the federal government to enforce immigration laws. While cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco have long identified as sanctuary cities, other municipalities continue to legislate on these issues. In places where illegal immigration is high, particularly on the U.S. southern border, cities and counties are likely to be active in setting policy.

Crime and Policing

From gun control to police procedure, cities and counties have a great deal of sway over law enforcement and policies that address crime. Indeed, most police and sheriff departments are local, funded by municipal budgets. In today’s world, mass shootings are becoming more common, gun control is a hot topic and race relations are an ever-present part of the national conversation. How local government treats law enforcement issues makes headlines—particularly when partisan politics are involved—and will continue to do so in the months ahead.

Pandemic Recovery

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the U.S., local governments played a major role in everything from vaccination policy to mask requirements and business closures. Now, those issues are largely behind us, but that doesn’t mean that local officials are done with pandemic-related decisions. The federal Public Health Emergency that enabled many national pandemic policies has come to an end, which will have repercussions for local governments. For example, Medicaid programs practiced continuous enrollment during the pandemic, meaning recipients did not need to re-enroll annually. The result was that America’s uninsured population shrunk to an all time low. Now, those programs are returning to normal operation, which means that recipients will have to re-enroll every year. The result is that millions of people will lose Medicaid insurance, including many who remain eligible. The burden of that change will be partially shouldered by local governments. Cities and counties are often directly involved in providing public benefits to their residents, meaning they will be partially responsible for re-enrollment. At the same time, rising numbers of uninsured can have a major impact on city and county healthcare facilities. City and county councils will likely be addressing pandemic decisions for years to come.

Education Policy

American schools, which are regulated by state and federal government but controlled locally, have been flashpoints for social issues that dominate the national conversation. Mass shootings, transgender rights, sex education, standardized testing, and how race is discussed in the classroom are only a few of the issues being fought at local school boards. These issues, some of which are prone to make national news, come at a difficult time for school districts. The pandemic represented the largest disruption to public education in a generation, with millions of children experiencing learning loss and falling below grade level in reading and math. That means schools are already struggling to adjust classroom learning, assessments and other systems to perform in a post-pandemic world. Organizations that track education policy, or issues that tend to play out before school boards, are likely to be busy in coming months.

Labor Shortage

The United States is experiencing a labor shortage, with more jobs available than there are workers to fill them. An analysis in August by Curtis Dubay, chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, showed there were 3.6 million more job openings than unemployed workers. However, the impact of the shortage can vary widely by industry and geography. For example, Montana is severely impacted, with only 46 workers available for every 100 jobs, according to the Chamber. Texas is less so, with 89 workers per 100 jobs. The shortage is likely to impact local government, sometimes directly. Like companies in their locale, government agencies themselves can have trouble hiring. Teachers are a good example. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in late 2022 that 45% of public schools were operating without a full teaching staff. Polling and other studies show that teachers continue to be unhappy in their work and looking to change jobs. Whether trying to attract a larger labor force or trying to hire, city and county councils are likely to be dealing with workforce issues in the months ahead.

Local Elections

Dozens of mayors and scores of council members will be elected in 2023 and 2024, meaning that municipal races will color many of the issues that local governments decide in coming months. For organizations that work on local issues, elections can complicate an already daunting workload, with issues appearing in many permutations across thousands of jurisdictions. Organizations that are serious about local work employ the same effective strategies that work in state legislatures or Congress. They hire local advisors and lobbyists, use local constituents to communicate and employ professional legislative tracking software to learn quickly when issues arise. If your organization wants to build a local advocacy program, Quorum can help. From meeting and agenda tracking to social media monitoring and contacts for more than 75,000 local officials, Quorum can provide the right tools. [post_title] => 10 Top Local Policy Issues to Watch—Or You May Miss Something Important [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => local-policy-issues [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-09-19 15:13:13 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-09-19 15:13:13 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://marketing-staging.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=10852 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 1 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 10852 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2023-09-19 15:11:57 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-09-19 15:11:57 [post_content] => For many organizations, watching legislation doesn’t mean just monitoring Congress and state legislatures. It means city and county councils, too. Local government impacts almost every industry in some way. Organizations in construction, education, energy, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, transportation and utilities are all partially regulated by city and county governments. Teams that are not monitoring the local level are only seeing part of the picture. At the same time, veteran public affairs professionals know that working with local governments can be tricky, and not only because the action takes place year-round. Advocacy efforts can be highly effective at the local level, where a few hundred grassroots communications can resonate loudly. Yet local officials sometimes resent outsiders who treat local affairs with a heavy hand. It’s a line to walk very carefully. If you are thinking about engaging locally, here are some top local policy issues that will be active in coming months and where city and county government will play a pivotal role.

Infrastructure Investment

When Congress passed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in late 2021, it directed more than $550 billion to improve roads, bridges, airports, broadband access, marine ports, water and sewer systems, and much more. In many cases, the investment was historic. Local government often plays a key role in infrastructure projects, which are sometimes funded with a combination of local, state and federal money. As the officials with the most intimate knowledge of how infrastructure impacts constituents, mayors and council members often have a lot of sway over what gets built and how it is architected. Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans who is now in charge of infrastructure for the Biden administration, told The New Republic this year that roughly $200 billion has been allocated across more than 20,000 projects in all 50 states. That means infrastructure is likely to remain a hot topic in cities and counties almost everywhere.

Next-Generation Transportation

The infrastructure bill also made the largest investment in public transit in American history, according to the White House. It contained the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak in 1971. From electric vehicle charging stations to electric school buses, billions of dollars will flow to transportation, which is likely to be a major issue for local officials. Local government is a major player in transportation, from the operation of city buses to the installation of EV chargers at libraries and other public buildings. Leaders at the local level will decide, at least in part, how to use the new federal funds.

Affordable Housing

Rising interest rates, reduced housing stock, slowing construction and increasing costs have combined to make home ownership more difficult, according to a report this year by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, which was co-sponsored by Habitat for Humanity. An increasing number of people are being locked out of the housing market. The supply of single-family homes for sale in 2022 was 30% lower than in 2019, according to the report. The number of first-time home buyers in 2022 also dropped by 22% over the previous year. At the same time, the cost of home ownership increased. In 2021, more than one in five homeowners spent a third of their income—and 10% spent more than half their income—on housing. This year, the annual income required to cover the median costs of home ownership rose 20% to $117,000, which is higher than the median household income for families in many states. Municipalities can address home ownership by enacting policies that make it easier to build affordable housing. Zoning laws can allow building on smaller lots. Building departments can make permitting cheaper and easier. Affordable housing policies will be a major issue in many communities.

Homeless Relief

America’s homeless population is up since 2017, increasing by 6 percent overall, according to a 2023 study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. More than 421,000 people were homeless in the U.S. in 2022, including almost 128,000 who are chronically homeless. Both are historic numbers. Caring for the homeless is often a duty that falls to city and county governments, and will be a major part of the agenda in places where homeless rates are high. In 2022, Humboldt County, California, had the highest per-capita rate at 121 for every 10,000 residents. Cities with high housing costs were also more likely to have high homeless populations, including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland and Seattle.

Immigration Policy

Cities and counties have a large role to play in immigration policy for many reasons. Municipal services such as police, courts, healthcare and education all have a direct impact on America’s undocumented population, and how local governments set policy in these areas can substantially shape U.S. immigration policy on the ground. One issue to watch is sanctuary policy, meaning cities that maintain autonomy when it comes to enforcing immigration laws, sometimes declining to cooperate with the federal government to enforce immigration laws. While cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco have long identified as sanctuary cities, other municipalities continue to legislate on these issues. In places where illegal immigration is high, particularly on the U.S. southern border, cities and counties are likely to be active in setting policy.

Crime and Policing

From gun control to police procedure, cities and counties have a great deal of sway over law enforcement and policies that address crime. Indeed, most police and sheriff departments are local, funded by municipal budgets. In today’s world, mass shootings are becoming more common, gun control is a hot topic and race relations are an ever-present part of the national conversation. How local government treats law enforcement issues makes headlines—particularly when partisan politics are involved—and will continue to do so in the months ahead.

Pandemic Recovery

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the U.S., local governments played a major role in everything from vaccination policy to mask requirements and business closures. Now, those issues are largely behind us, but that doesn’t mean that local officials are done with pandemic-related decisions. The federal Public Health Emergency that enabled many national pandemic policies has come to an end, which will have repercussions for local governments. For example, Medicaid programs practiced continuous enrollment during the pandemic, meaning recipients did not need to re-enroll annually. The result was that America’s uninsured population shrunk to an all time low. Now, those programs are returning to normal operation, which means that recipients will have to re-enroll every year. The result is that millions of people will lose Medicaid insurance, including many who remain eligible. The burden of that change will be partially shouldered by local governments. Cities and counties are often directly involved in providing public benefits to their residents, meaning they will be partially responsible for re-enrollment. At the same time, rising numbers of uninsured can have a major impact on city and county healthcare facilities. City and county councils will likely be addressing pandemic decisions for years to come.

Education Policy

American schools, which are regulated by state and federal government but controlled locally, have been flashpoints for social issues that dominate the national conversation. Mass shootings, transgender rights, sex education, standardized testing, and how race is discussed in the classroom are only a few of the issues being fought at local school boards. These issues, some of which are prone to make national news, come at a difficult time for school districts. The pandemic represented the largest disruption to public education in a generation, with millions of children experiencing learning loss and falling below grade level in reading and math. That means schools are already struggling to adjust classroom learning, assessments and other systems to perform in a post-pandemic world. Organizations that track education policy, or issues that tend to play out before school boards, are likely to be busy in coming months.

Labor Shortage

The United States is experiencing a labor shortage, with more jobs available than there are workers to fill them. An analysis in August by Curtis Dubay, chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, showed there were 3.6 million more job openings than unemployed workers. However, the impact of the shortage can vary widely by industry and geography. For example, Montana is severely impacted, with only 46 workers available for every 100 jobs, according to the Chamber. Texas is less so, with 89 workers per 100 jobs. The shortage is likely to impact local government, sometimes directly. Like companies in their locale, government agencies themselves can have trouble hiring. Teachers are a good example. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in late 2022 that 45% of public schools were operating without a full teaching staff. Polling and other studies show that teachers continue to be unhappy in their work and looking to change jobs. Whether trying to attract a larger labor force or trying to hire, city and county councils are likely to be dealing with workforce issues in the months ahead.

Local Elections

Dozens of mayors and scores of council members will be elected in 2023 and 2024, meaning that municipal races will color many of the issues that local governments decide in coming months. For organizations that work on local issues, elections can complicate an already daunting workload, with issues appearing in many permutations across thousands of jurisdictions. Organizations that are serious about local work employ the same effective strategies that work in state legislatures or Congress. They hire local advisors and lobbyists, use local constituents to communicate and employ professional legislative tracking software to learn quickly when issues arise. If your organization wants to build a local advocacy program, Quorum can help. From meeting and agenda tracking to social media monitoring and contacts for more than 75,000 local officials, Quorum can provide the right tools. [post_title] => 10 Top Local Policy Issues to Watch—Or You May Miss Something Important [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => local-policy-issues [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-09-19 15:13:13 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-09-19 15:13:13 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://marketing-staging.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=10852 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 1 [max_num_pages] => 0 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => 1 [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => [is_category] => [is_tag] => [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => 1 [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => 9d7f4aff50dc5bf3b60a9c2f84ac59cc [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => [thumbnails_cached] => [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) )

!!! 10852