Mayors push for Export-Import renewal

A group of mayors is urging Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, which will shut down June 30 unless Congress renews its charter.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson (D), who is also the president of the United States Conference of Mayors, circulated the letter to Senate and House leadership urging the bank’s reauthorization.

{mosads}”Support from the Ex-Im Bank enables local American businesses to get the financing needed to stay competitive internationally,” Johnson wrote in the letter.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D); Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett (R); Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D); and Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown (D) signed the letter.

Tea Partyers, led by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), argue that Ex-Im is just “corporate welfare” and “cronyism” designed to prop up big businesses like Boeing, the bank’s top beneficiary. 

Hensarling’s panel has jurisdiction on the issue and he’s been tight-lipped about whether he’d move an Ex-Im bill through his committee.

The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), as well as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). 

Uscm Ex Im Letter