investments, continue to build strong partnerships, provide training to our workforce and improve our public schools. We will emerge as a stronger and more competitive city." Barrett met with Vice President of the United States Joe Biden and testified before the United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment when he traveled to Washington, D.C. on March 18, 2009. Barrett attended a White House Recovery and Reinvestment Act Implementation Conference hosted by Biden. The conference addressed questions from state, county, and local government officials on how to effectively oversee the spending of Recovery Act funds. Environment Mayor Barrett has enacted his vision for a greener Milwaukee through the formation of Milwaukee's Green Team the establishment of Milwaukee's Office of Sustainability. The Office of Sustainability promotes cost-effective environmental sustainability practices that meet Milwaukee's urgent environmental, economic and social needs while enhancing long-term economic growth. He is also one of the region's greatest champions for the Great Lakes and previously served as Co-Chair of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, an binational organization of mayors and other local officials that works actively to advance the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Barrett took a number of actions. On March 23, citing concerns of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Barrett sent a letter to Governor Tony Evers, State Senate Majority Leader Scott L. Fitzgerald and Speaker of the State House Robin Vos, requesting that the April 7 elections (including the mayoral election, as well as Wisconsin's presidential primaries and others races) be conducted using mail-in ballots only. Barrett lent his backing to a proposal authored by the Department of City Development under which business improvement districts would be allowed to spend money on assisting companies and property owners hurt by the pandemic without needing Common Council approval. Barrett lobbied the United States Army Corps of Engineers to establish a care facility at the Wisconsin State Fair Park. Other matters In April 2009, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and Mayor Tom Barrett, joined by Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin Elizabeth Burmaster, announced a broad effort improve the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). The announcement followed the completion of a comprehensive independent review of the finances and non-instructional operations of MPS commissioned by the Governor and Mayor in October 2008. In 2013, he was one of nine