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EXHIBIT A <br />2021 Federal Legislative Public Policy Positions <br />The Portsmouth City Council in general supports the 2021 National League of Cities <br />Federal public policy positions to include: <br />• Opposing the Federal Government using its significant financial powers to <br />the detriment of local governments <br />It should not use the bureaucracy of complex regulations, policies, <br />and federal departmentalization to stunt, delay, impede, or control <br />local governmental decisions regarding how to provide for the <br />needs of its citizens <br />Oppose unfunded mandates through federal overreach, and any Federal <br />policies and regulations affecting local governments that mandate new <br />costs for local governments without providing funding to support those <br />new mandates <br />o To include failure to act on EFairness, interference with collection of <br />local taxes, restrictions on local authority under takings actions, <br />preemption of municipal regulatory authority, and restriction on <br />municipal annexation are all examples of strong Federal power <br />influencing and interfering with local government responsibly <br />responding to the needs of its citizens <br />• Support strengthening of Intergovernmental partnerships through all levels <br />of government, including Federal Government flexibility in working with <br />local governments being that local governments are the ones providing <br />necessary services, solving day -to -day problems, and responding to the <br />needs of citizens <br />• Support the longstanding principle that state and local taxes (SALT) <br />should not be considered federally taxable income and oppose efforts to <br />further reduce the deductibility of SALT on federal income tax returns. <br />o In order to achieve parity among communities with different sources <br />of revenues, the SALT deduction should apply to local income, <br />property and sales taxes <br />o The $10,000 cap on SALT deductions should be eliminated to <br />avoid the risk of double taxation and remove the downward <br />pressure it places on local tax decisions <br />Support policies that grant administrative control of programs, projects, <br />and use of tax revenues to the lowest and most directly connected level <br />of government as possible <br />