Transportation
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney followed a fix-it-first policy on highway spending, and his state DOT issued a new highway design manual pushing local communities toward more pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. All good signs. But in Congress, transportation has lately become a partisan issue split along an overly simplified cars-vs.-transit (read: cities-vs.-suburbs) narrative. Earlier versions of the House transportation bill sought to eliminate dedicated funding for mass transit, as well as bike and pedestrian support.
Under a Republican House with a Romney presidency, walkability and "complete streets" initiatives could follow a fate similar to Big Bird’s, as miniscule budget items singled out for "savings." Federal support for mass transit poses a bigger long-term problem. The Highway Trust Fund is currently funded by gas tax receipts, which are dwindling as fewer people drive and fuel-efficiency goes up. A Republican administration might be more supportive of innovative tolls and congestion pricing to pay for roads, but those solutions don’t do much for transit. Romney has also called for the privatization of Amtrak.
The current DOT head, Ray LaHood, is a Republican, but he's already announced he's moving on even if Obama wins a second term. Other names floating around: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair and author of the aforementioned bill John Mica ("When you start getting into the inner city, the federal government has less of a role to play" in transportation) or Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (whose state is a national model for auto dependency).
Gas and Cars
There was one odd moment during the second presidential debate when both Romney and Obama seemed to be arguing from the same presumption that it is the federal government’s role to keep gas prices low. If this is actually Romney’s position, then transportation policy becomes a matter of increasing domestic oil output, not enhancing commuting alternatives to cars. Federal transportation policy, however, should be framed as a matter of moving people to opportunity and goods to market, not keeping pump prices low. When he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney once vowed to cut the number of SUVs in the state fleet, but he has more recentlycriticized Obama for dramatically increasing CAFE fuel-economy standards (perhaps Obama’s biggest environmental accomplishment, though that's a fairly low bar). Auto industry watchers have predicted that Romney may roll back those standards, as well as tax credits for electric vehicles.Disaster Recovery
This is another nationwide issue that has taken a distinctly urban edge in the last week, with pundits focusing anew on Romney’s earlier suggestion that FEMA's responsibilities should be devolved to the states – or, even further, to the private sector. If such a policy were in place today, it's arguable how well New York or New Jersey would be managing their own disaster recovery in the face of, well, a massive disaster. The New York Times editorialized to that effect last week: "A Big Storm Requires Big Government."Poverty programs
Romney has given few specifics in this area, vaguely reasserting his main campaign themes – reducing the debt and creating "12 million new jobs” – as solutions to poverty. His broad budget proposal (capping federal spending at 20 percent of GDP) would likely heavily impact domestic poverty programs, although he has famously not spelled out specific targets for individual initiatives like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) or Section 8 housing vouchers. One analysis, by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, has projected that cuts under Romney’s budget to SNAP could kick 10 to 14 million people out of the program by 2016. People live in poverty all over the country, but poverty also concentrates in cities. As Next American City has pointed out, one in 10 dollars in the New York City food economy comes from SNAP benefits.Obama's Department of Education also created the Promise Neighborhoods program, modeled off of the Harlem Children's Zone, targeting grants to communities that would coordinate comprehensive, "cradle-to-career" services for children living in high-poverty areas. The program was modeled off a private initiative built entirely without government money, and we suspect it is the type of innovative anti-poverty public-private partnership Romney would support over direct cash payments to the poor.
Taxes
Both Romney and Obama have talked of wanting to overhaul of the tax code. The debate has focused on what this might mean for the wealthiest Americans, but another issue lurks here: The federal tax code has a significant influence in the form and development of communities, from the home mortgage interest deduction that fueled the growth of suburbs to incentives (including one set to expire next year) that encourage green building and redevelopment. The mortgage deduction is a sacred cow to both parties. But the tax code could more broadly be amended – while we’re already planning to rewrite it – to promote principles of "livability" [PDF], or walkable, transit-oriented and infill development (these ideas also fall under the broader banner of "location efficiency," another concept that practically sounds as if it came from a management consultant). The tax code could, for instance, expand incentives for energy-efficient commercial buildings, and enhance the real estate tax provisions for new projects that embrace federally defined principles of livability or that locate within designated livable communities. The tax code could also permanently correct the pretax commuter benefit imbalance thatheavily favors people who pay to park at work over those who ride public transit there. All of this would require an administration comfortable talking about why livability matters.Gun Control
Another issue on which Romney has been clear. From his issue statement, Romney will "enforce the laws already on the books" but "does not support adding more laws and regulations that do nothing more than burden law-abiding citizens while being ignored by criminals." Cities like Chicago and Washington that have already tried in the past (and been thwarted in the courts) to expand handgun restrictions will get no sympathy from a Romney administration.More Reading
Still want more? Here’s our Romney reading list if you’ve run out of things to do between now and Tuesday night:- "Mitt's Metropolis," Next American City
- "Urban Outfitter," The New Republic
- "How the G.O.P. Became the Anti-Urban Party," The New York Times
- "Would President Romney Build Roads or Rail?" Streetsblog
- "Why Congress Can't Kill the Partnership for Sustainable Communities," Streetsblog
- "Meet Romney's – and Obama's – Climate Change Adviser," Mother Jones
- "Romney, once an anti-sprawl crusader, created model for Obama ‘smart growth’ program," Grist
