The Nation : Nation’s Mayors Urge More Federal Aid

Many of the nation’s mayors at a conference in Salt Lake City urged an increase in federal aid to cities and greater local control over the spending of federal funds. Participants at the 56th annual U.S. Conference of Mayors, meeting for the third day of the six-day event, said more money is needed to combat drug abuse, AIDS and homelessness. They complained that federal policies under the Reagan Administration have given local governments little role to play in dealing with the nation’s ills. Federal aid to local governments dropped 37.8% between 1980 and 1987, according to the Congressional Research Service. The mayors want some of that money restored, rather than trying to win state or local tax increases and many of them called for restoration of revenue sharing, which Congress abolished two years ago.