President Biden Addresses NACO 2022 Legislative Conference

President Biden will address elected county officials from Oklahoma and across the country Tuesday afternoon as The National Association of Counties concludes its 2022 legislative conference.

The annual conference, which is back in-person after being held virtually last year, gives county officials a national platform.

"Truly, it is a voice for both Oklahoma and for counties across the United States," said Cleveland County's District 2 Commissioner Darry Stacy, who is there this year and has attended in previous years, as well.

Stacy said the input county officials give here can make a real difference. He says it did on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

"When the initial rules [for ARPA] first came out, they weren’t really conducive to counties and so this really gave us an opportunity to come together...and be a voice to say, 'No, we are the boots on the ground, this is how we need to spend the dollars, this is how we need to address the citizens in our counties,'" recalled Stacy, "and surprisingly, it was heard and changes were made."

News 9's Alex Cameron will have a full report on News 9 at 5 p.m.