The National Association of Counties (“NaCo”) has announced 2018-19 leadership appointments to its Large Urban County Caucus (“LUCC”), a bi-partisan caucus comprised of county executives, other senior elected officials, and governing board members that advocates at the federal level for the interests of large counties. Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz has been named a Vice-Chair of the caucus and joins counterparts from Franklin County, Ohio; DeKalb County, Georgia; Orange County, Florida; Harris County, Texas; Dallas County, Texas; and Los Angeles County, California as new appointees.

“I thank NaCo President Greg Cox for this appointment and I look forward to working with LUCC Chairman Larry Johnson and my county colleagues from across the United States to advocate for the needs of large counties, such as increased transportation assistance and protecting important safety net programs like Medicare and Social Security,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “There are 127 LUCC member counties across the country and Erie County is the smallest of those named vice-chairs for the 2018-19 term, so this is both a tremendous honor and opportunity to share insights with my colleagues in a bi-partisan way to garner federal support as we work to better our communities.”

The LUCC Chair is Larry Johnson, Commissioner of DeKalb County, Georgia. In 2017, the top priorities for the LUCC were protecting municipal bonds, supporting marketplace fairness, protecting Medicaid, promoting county priorities in surface transportation, and achieving mental health and criminal justice reform. According to NaCo, large counties invest over $354 billion annually in critical programs and services, as well as investing over $35 billion on transportation. Large counties also support 123 hospitals nationwide and are involved with 136 airports.

 For more information:

On the National Association of Counties, visit http://www.naco.org/

On the Large Urban County Caucus, visit  http://www.naco.org/advocacy/large-urban-county-caucus    

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