Metro Cities has four standing committees, which develop the organization's policy positions based on input from representatives of member cities:

1. Housing & Economic Development
2. Municipal Revenue & Taxation
3. Transportation & General Legislation
4. Metropolitan Agencies

Officials of any member city may serve on a committee of their choice. Each committee annually submits policy recommendations to the Board of Directors for review, modification and distribution to the general membership. The general membership meets in November before each legislative session to debate and adopt the official Metro Cities positions for that session. In matters of legislative policy, each member city has one vote, plus one additional vote for each 50,000 population or major fraction thereof above the initial 50,000. Legislative policy requires a two-thirds affirmative vote of the members present and voting to be adopted.

The Housing and Economic Development Committee considers all issues related to economic development and housing, including subsidized housing, affordable housing and activities of the Metro Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA). It also reviews all amendments to the Met Council’s Housing Guide Policy Chapter and develops policy dealing with economic development issues, HRAs, tax increment financing (TIF) and development authorities.

The Municipal Revenues Committee considers any matter concerning city revenues, property taxes, and city expenditures; including state aid formulas and dollars, levy limits, property tax assesments and fiscal disparities.

The Transportation and General Legislation Committee considers all major issues related to air and surface transportation, including funding sources at all government levels. Members of the Metro Cities Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) are encouraged to join, along with other city officials. This committee has developed policy on issues such as municipal consolidation, pensions, PERLA, comparable worth, data privacy, contractor licensing and local control/authority. This committee also considers all major issues that have an impact on metropolitan area cities outside the scope of other Metro Cities committees. This includes issues such as municipal consolidation, pensions, PERLA, comparable worth, data privacy, contractor licensing and local control/authority.

The Metropolitan Agencies Committee considers legislative issues and other policies related to the Met Council and metro agencies. It monitors the structure and relationship between the regional and local units of government and reviews amendments to the Metro Development Guide Policy Chapters. It has previously developed policy on land use planning, solid waste management and the Met Council selection process. It reviews the council’s yearly budget and this year will monitor the policies and plans being developed to implement the Regional Blueprint.