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 The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States. Its mission is to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.
Working in partnership with 49 state municipal leagues, NLC serves as a national resource to and an advocate for the more than 18,000 cities, villages, and towns it represents. NLC was founded in December of 1924 by ten state municipal leagues that saw the need for a national organization to strengthen local government through research, information sharing and advocacy on behalf of hometown America. It was initially an organization of state municipal leagues. In the 1960s and 1970s, membership was gradually opened to cities of all sizes, enabling local elected officials to influence the priorities, policies and advocacy positions of the organization.
Governance. NLCs board of directors consists of a president (currently Selectman Charles Lyons of Arlington Massachusetts), first and second vice presidents, all past presidents still in government service, and 40 additional members. Twenty board members are elected annually to serve two-year terms. The president, first vice president, and second vice president are elected to one-year terms. After completion of their two-year terms, board members still in government service become members of an advisory council responsible for NLC's "futures" process. In addition to the elected leadership and the advisory council, NLC relies on standing committees to develop municipal policy and explore issues critical to the nation's cities and towns.
Programs. NLC provides a wide range of programs and services to strengthen the ability of city officials to serve their communities. Many of the programs, such as the Municipal Reference Service (MRS), are supported by NLC dues revenue and are made available to city officials at no cost. Other programs, such as intensive leadership training seminars offered through the Leadership Training Institute, are offered on a fee basis.
NLC also receives financial support from national foundations for focused research, technical assistance, and publications to expand the organizations capacity to provide resources and information to local officials. For example, the NLC Institute for Youth, Education and Families is funded largely by grants from national foundations to support the Institute's work in five major program areas.
Research. Through its Center for Research and Program Development, NLC maintains an applied think tank capacity by developing, conducting and reporting research on programs and issues affecting cities and towns. NLC regularly conducts two surveys an annual elected officials' opinion survey in the fall, and a city fiscal conditions survey in the spring which are published in research reports. In addition to providing information on city priorities and fiscal conditions, these surveys reveal important trends based on more than a decade of continuous data collection.
NLC also publishes special research reports on current and emerging issues based on a variety of research methodologies. A key resource for research is NLCs Municipalities in Transition program (see below), which houses five panels focusing on public finance, land use and development, families and children, governance, and equity. Thus, the organizations research activities serve as a resource for connecting public policy discussions to the reality of what is happening in America's cities. Recent research reports (downloadable as pdf files) include Strengthening Families in Americas Cities: Early Childhood Development, Is the Federal-State-Local Partnership Being Dismantled? and The Impact of Federal Fiscal Policy on State and Local Fiscal Crisis, among many others.
Advocacy. A central focus of NLC and the chief reason for its location in Washington, D.C. is to serve as an advocate for the interests of U.S. cities and towns with the federal government. The organizations advocacy program is expressed in its annually updated National Municipal Policy, a compilation of positions adopted by the organizations membership at each annual Congress of Cities (NLCs annual meeting). Policy development is lodged in seven committees of elected municipal officials (for a fuller description see the policy section). The positions in the NMP and separate resolutions guide NLC in its lobbying efforts with the Federal Government. (Click on policy to see these positions).
The organizations legislative activities involve monitoring of pending actions in Washington that have implications for cities and towns. Communities are alerted to important developments through various means, including NLCs weekly newspaper, Nation's Cities Weekly. NLC employs professional legislative personnel to coordinate and staff this communication effort. While NLC staff work directly with Congress, the executive branch, independent regulatory agencies, and the courts, the organization relies chiefly on its outreach to enable cities and towns to assert their own interests.
Municipalities in Transition. Of interest to regional stewards is NLCs Municipalities in Transition (MiT) program, which was established in 1997 to serve as a resource for municipal officials to connect policy discussions to the long-term, strategic challenges communities must confront. Two new panels of city officials were recently added to the program. These include the Equity and Opportunity Panel, which will bring together city officials to address issues surrounding inequality and barriers to opportunity, and the Democratic Governance Panel, which will focus on the challenges facing cities in terms of citizen engagement, intergovernmental relationships and regional collaboration. The two new panels join existing panels on Public Finance and Community and Regional Development.
For more information on the National League of Cities, visit their website at www.nlc.org.
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