NRPA Public Policy staff gave a group presentation on Wednesday afternoon focused on the association's top legislative and appropriations priorities for the year. In a nutshell, here's what we're looking at:
1. Support funding for parks and public lands.
2.Promote health, physical activity, and recreation.
3. Support youth development and livable communities.
NRPA Senior Director of Policy Richard Dolesh made this plea to members who will be taking to the Hill tomorrow to lobby Congress: "You need to make the personal connection, but we also want you to ask for the national priorities."
Dolesh went on to suggest that there are three primary "asks" that members should make on the Hill:
1. Appropriations for the Land and Water Conservation Fund state assistance program. ("The 'ask,'" says Public Policy Manager Mike Phillips, "is $125 million.")
2. The Play Every Day Act. ("We have an obesity crisis," says Senior Policy Manager Stacey Pine, "and to fight that, children really need to play.")
3. You choose. ("Keep your 'asks' simple," Dolesh reiterated.)
But please keep in mind the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery, or UPARR, program, Dolesh says. With an estimated $15 billion in unmet needs in the United States to park and recreation infrastructure, "UPARR has not been funded since fiscal year 2002," says Senior Policy Manager Ashley Futrell. "You should ask for $30 million for UPARR."