But local and state lawmakers, facing a lobbying effort by politically potent farmers, have backed down in most cases.
Without help from Washington, local lawmakers are taking action.
A local lawmaker involved in sanitation issues praised the city's approach.
A long blackout increases the pressure on local and federal lawmakers alike.
The usual way to ease such a strain is for local lawmakers to allow more land to be developed.
Now local lawmakers are threatening to step in.
Many local lawmakers have been impacted by the city's term limits.
But underlying the case is the issue of whether a Federal judge can force a local lawmaker to vote a certain way.
The costs of the program has been causing enormous headaches for local lawmakers.
And last week, local lawmakers agreed on a bill to control the smokestack emissions that cause acid rain.