The Alabama League of Municipalities (ALM) sent a large delegation of mayors, city council members, and local officials to Washington D.C. this week for the National League of Cities’ Congressional City Conference.

More than 170 Alabama municipal officials attended the Conference in Washington from March 9 through 13. Over 2,500 elected and appointed city, town and village leaders from across the United States were there to focus on federal policy issues important to local governments. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the nonpartisan organization, whose mission is helping municipal leaders build better communities.

Birmingham City Councilman Darrell O’Quinn was re-elected in November to serve on NLC’s national board of directors. This week he played a special role with contributing to important discussions and attending various meetings.

“In addition to the invaluable conversations and intensive meetings regarding municipal government practices, the National League of Cities’ conference allows us the opportunity to interface with our congressional leadership to discuss the priorities that will help Birmingham and ALM continue to move forward,” O’Quinn said.

“Perhaps the most important topic that we discussed this year was the Bipartisan Railway Safety Act. This bill has the potential to protect and benefit every single American living near a rail line by increasing regulations and appropriating federal funds to install more safety features in places like Birmingham. I feel as though collectively we were able to make a lot of progress on this issue, especially considering the overwhelming support this bill has from local elected officials from all over the country.”

Over 100,000 Americans a year are dying from drug overdoses and more than 74 percent of them are dying from opioids. The cities, and their local first responders, have been on the frontlines of this unprecedented crisis – much of which can be traced to big pharmaceutical companies encouraging  doctors to prescribe their products in hitherto unprecedented quantities. At one point a few years ago Alabama had more prescriptions for opioids than people.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall spoke on stage Monday in a panel discussion with Zanesville, Ohio Mayor Donald Mason, and the executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League Mark Hayes.

Their discussion focused on litigation settlements with major opioid pharmaceutical distributors and manufacturing companies. Marshall said that his office has been helping Alabama cities and towns take advantage of the over $800 million in opioid settlements.

“Alabama’s first-in-the-nation approach to individually taking legal action against opioid distributors and manufacturers allowed the state to directly address the devastating impacts of the epidemic in our own backyard,” Marshall said.

“As a result, the state of Alabama’s settlement amounts have been markedly higher than those states involved in the national settlement agreement. These funds present a historic opportunity to alleviate the damage that opioid abuse caused in our communities.”

Municipal leaders are able to learn from federal leaders, policy experts, and fellow local government leaders at the Congressional City Conference. Topics addressed include: infrastructure, climate resilience and sustainability, workforce development, affordable housing, public safety, railroad safety and nutrition.

Hartselle Mayor Randy Garrison is the President of ALM. This is his third time to attend the conference.

“The sessions were great this year, especially the opioid panel, and the excitement that they shared about growth and improving the areas we live in,” Garrison said.

“I am able to glean from others about new ideas and programs that work for their cities and towns that we may have not put into our processes or plans. I believe NLC works to unite cities and towns, and I am grateful that they advocate on the federal level for all our members.”

Several members of Alabama’s congressional delegation met with members on Monday night, including Congressmembers Robert Aderholt, Jerry Carl, Barry Moore, Mike Rogers and Terri Sewell. Both of Alabama’s U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt addressed the attendees at a breakfast on Tuesday.

 ALM’s members participated in NLC’s Hill Day program on Wednesday to meet with members of Congress directly at their offices on Capitol Hill.

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