August 8, 2022 | Cole Karr

The National Special Districts Coalition (NSDC) celebrated Monday the beginning of “National Special Districts Action Week,” its first coordinated national event to connect special districts with their federal representatives during Congress’ annual August recess.

“Special districts across the country are engaging with their U.S. House and Senate members to elevate awareness of special districts’ federal issues and locally forge critical relationships with their representatives,” said Cole Karr, NSDC Federal Advocacy Coordinator. “The Coalition is excited to empower our special districts to lead their engagements with resources and information needed for successful meetings, and to move priorities forward.”

NSDC selected three priority policy initiatives for which participating special districts may choose advocate in addition to specific issues of their own. Of high importance, districts will discuss with their representatives the necessity of establishing a federal “special district” definition. District leaders will also have the opportunity to ask their elected officials to support and pass the Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ) Act and to urge action on NSDC recommendations to address community gaps in water infrastructure for firefighting.

Participating special districts received toolkits based on the type of meeting or communication they sought to have with their elected officials. Different toolkits and guidelines were shared for in-person meetings, zoom calls, phone calls, or written communications. Participating districts also received a live, full briefing on selected topics and current federal issues, in general, from the NSDC Advocacy Team on August 3.

Districts participating in the National Special Districts Action week are encouraged to share their participation on social media. Districts may tag NSDC on Facebook and Twitter at @NSDCdistricts on their Action Week posts and leverage the event’s social media action kit for hashtags, sample posts, and more.

For more information, contact Cole Karr, NSDC Federal Advocacy Coordinator.