Senators would stop 'micropolitan' label for 144 US cities
Some lawmakers are trying to stop 144 U.S. cities from losing their designations as “metropolitan areas" as the federal government updates its standards, doubling the minimum number of residents required in a city's urban core to 100,000 people.
Sens. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, and Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, introduced legislation Tuesday that would stop the Office of Budget and Management from making the change.
Under the federal government's proposal, a metro area would need double the 50,000-person threshold that has been in place for the past 70 years to count as a metropolitan statistical area. Cities losing this status, with core populations of 50,000 to 99,000 people, would become “micropolitan” statistical areas instead.
The lawmakers said the downgrade would cause real harm, preventing urban areas from getting designated federal funding and making them less attractive for economic development.
Read more: https://kdhnews.com/news/politics/senators-would-stop-micropolitan-label-for-144-us-cities/article_3887861f-c7b1-5800-9f52-efc5903a9161.html
(Killeen Daily Herald)