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How Townships can access clean energy tax credits in the form of direct pay/transferability
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NATaT December 2024 Annual Meeting
Jerry B. Crabtree, Heidi Fought (Ohio ED), Past President Neil Sheradin (Michigan Ed), and NATaT President Dave Sanko (PA ED)
NATaT Weekly Legislative Report
September 16, 2025
Congressional Outlook
As a federal government shutdown draws near lawmakers need to act on legislation before funding runs out on September 30. The House is planning to vote on their plan to fund the government until November 21. Both chambers are in session this week, with only 15 days until a shutdown.
With time winding down to fund the federal government, House Republican leaders released the 91-page text for a temporary funding measure to keep the government operating via continuing resolution until November 21. Republicans have indicated that the bill is largely free of additional policy provisions, or what would classify it as "clean." Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) will bring the CR to the floor on Friday for a vote. The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026 H.R. 5371, provides a seven-week extension for stopgap funding that would extend funding at FY 2025 levels. The extension would also extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, National Flood Insurance Program, funding for community health centers, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act telehealth services, among other provisions set to expire on October 1. A new addition, upon request from the Trump administration following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, would provide $58 million to enhance protection for the executive and judicial branches. Republican Lawmakers will choose to boost funding for their security as well, including $30 million for Congressional security provisions. The funding requested by the administration would double the Residential Security Program to $20,000, among other provisions for personal protection.
Democrats have long advocated that the only way to secure their support and votes for the legislation is through bipartisan negotiations. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) criticized the Republican approach on social media Monday, arguing that "Partisan legislation that continues the unprecedented Republican assault on healthcare is not a clean spending bill. It's a dirty one." This disagreement increases the chances that Republicans will need to pass their continuing resolution using only GOP votes in the House, then challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to either accept the bill or allow a shutdown, similar to the strategy they employed in March for FY 2025. Schumer and Jefferies will release a counterproposal to the GOP continuing resolution, which will include specific provisions, including an extension to Obamacare premium tax credits and other health provisions.
In light of the recent CR, Republican leaders will first need to navigate their narrow House majority, where they can afford to lose only two members if all Democrats oppose the measure. The House narrowly passed a rule on the legislation 213-211 this afternoon. The Speaker needed to win over three of the six holdout Republican lawmakers who held up the vote over opposition to the language inserted into the CR blocking Congress’ ability to challenge the Trump administration’s tariffs through March of next year. After internal dialogue, the Speaker was able to flip the votes of Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Tom McClintock (D-Calif.), and Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) by changing the ability to challenge the Trump tariffs until January. Paired with Democrat pushback, another huge challenge facing the path to passage of this bill is time. House leadership is working to get the measure passed before the week ends, with Congress set to recess next week for the Rosh Hashanah observance. In doing so, the House will more than likely leave the Senate only a few days after the week-long recess to act on the legislation before the deadline.
The House this week will consider eighteen bills under suspension of the rules, including the Water Resources Technical Assistance Review Act (H.R. 3427), which would require to review all clean water-related technical assistance authorities of the Environmental Protection Agency. The House will also vote on Guaranteeing Reliability through the Interconnection of Dispatchable Power Act H.R. 1047, which would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reform the interconnection queue process for the prioritization and approval of certain projects.
The Senate will vote to advance the nominations of Stephen Miran to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Kyle Haustveit to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (Fossil Energy). The Senate will also vote on S.J. Res. 60, a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Emissions Budget and Allowance Allocations for Indiana Under the Revised Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Update". The Senate voted to fast-track Trump administration nominees through a resolution by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), S. Res. 377, which allows for the vote on nominations en bloc. Following the executive move to change the rules of the Senate by the Majority Leader, the Senate will vote on 48 nominees en bloc this week.
The House and Senate held several committee hearings this week. In the House, an Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement hearing was held on “From Protection to Persecution: EPA Enforcement Gone Rogue Under the Biden Administration;” an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment hearing was held on “From Gridlock to Growth: Permitting Reform Under the Clean Air Act;” and an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on “Examining Solutions to Expedite Broadband Permitting.” The Senate held several hearings, including an Environment and Public Works hearing on the “Oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”
Week in Review
House GOP eyes lawmaker security boost in bill to avert shutdown
Trump administration seeks $58 million security boost after Charlie Kirk assassination
Mike Johnson faces brief GOP revolt over Trump tariffs
What the CR timing dispute is really about
Senate Democrats to propose alternative to GOP stopgap
Hakeem Jeffries says ‘clean’ CR is nonstarter for Democrats
Senate Republicans trigger 'nuclear option,' changing rules to speed up Trump nominees