On this week’s Radically Pragmatic Podcast, PPI President Will Marshall and Senior Policy Fellow Crystal Swann sit down with Rep. Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), a former Mayor of Tacoma, and Sly James, former Mayor of Kansas City.
They discuss a new “metro-federalism” – the role of local leaders in effectively deploying the public resources provided by Congress in the American Rescue Plan Act, and how mayors will support the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 relief and recovery goals – often as Republican-controlled state legislatures are hostile to the new Democratic administration.
The leaders also discussed the American Jobs Plan, the Biden Administration’s next phase of the Build Back Better agenda, which will invest billions in traditional and human infrastructure so we can get every American – including women – back to work and back on track.
This episode is in partnership with New Urban Progress, who aim to spark a cross-fertilization of ideas for local initiative and problem-solving. The New Urban Progress project compares metropolitan regions that have emerged as hubs of public innovation and collaborative problem-solving, and uses the results as frameworks to build inclusive, innovative, digital, and diverse cities.
Learn more about New Urban Progress here.
