National Association of Towns and Townships - www.natat.org

How Townships can access clean energy tax credits in the form of direct pay/transferability

2025 NATAT Policy Platform

NATaT Tax Priorities

NATaT Transportation Reauthorization Priorities

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

November 17, 2025

Congressional Outlook

Following the end of the longest shutdown in U.S. history (43 days), House and Senate Republican leaders are eager to take steps to avoid another shutdown early next year. On November 12, President Donald Trump signed into law the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 (PL 119-37), following passage by the Senate and House earlier in the week. The legislation provides continuing appropriations for most federal agencies through January 30, 2026. It also provides appropriations through the end of FY 2026 (i.e., through September 30, 2026) for agriculture, military construction, veterans affairs, and legislative branch programs. See TFG's Special Report highlighting all parts of the CR and FY26 minibus package. Now, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is ⁠planning to hold a vote on the Senate floor on several FY26 spending bills delayed by the funding standoff. Thune hopes to take up the Defense spending bill and incorporate three other full-year FY 2026 spending bills, the Labor-HHS-Education, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-HUD bills, into one minibus package. The Interior-Environment spending bill could serve as an additional or replacement bill should the leadership deem it an easier bill to include. Majority Leader Thune will face challenges reaching unanimous consent to include the 4-5 spending bills together, and 60 votes will be required to advance consideration of the minibus.

The Trump administration and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have publicly expressed dissatisfaction with public transit systems in Democratic-controlled cities, warning of possible federal funding cuts to local agencies, including New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The U.S. Department of Transportation is now reportedly seeking to reduce mass transit funding by billions of dollars in the forthcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill. Currently, the administration is considering two options to pitch. The first proposal would reallocate billions from the Highway Trust Fund’s mass transit portion to highway construction instead. The second proposal would strip the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of its ability to finance transit projects and prevent states from directing highway formula funding toward transit initiatives. (The proposal notes that $1.6 billion was transferred from FHWA's highway account to the Federal Transit Administration [FTA] in fiscal year 2024 for such purposes.) As Congress continues working on an upcoming surface transportation bill, the administration is angling to have one of its proposals included in the legislation. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chair and Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), respectively, have a longstanding bipartisan working relationship. However, this proposal, which significantly affects transit funds, would create challenges for their working relationship.

The House will vote this week on the Epstein Files Transparency Act (H. Res. 581), which requires the Department of Justice to declassify and release all files related to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) achieved the necessary 218 signatures for the discharge petition forcing House floor action on the bill. The House will likely vote on the bill on Tuesday. After previously placing pressure on Republican members to block the release of the legislation, President Trump called on House Republicans to vote for the release of the Epstein files on Sunday evening after many believe that it was a forgone conclusion that the bill would receive considerable Republican votes to release the documents.

The House will be in session through Friday and is expected to advance 16 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Senate-passed Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2025 (S. 2392), which provides a cost of living adjustment to veterans’ disability and survivors’ compensation effective December 1, 2025; the Protecting Information by Local Leaders for Agency Resilience (PILLAR) Act (H.R. 5078), which reauthorizes the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program through September 30, 2033, sets the program federal cost-share at 60% for single recipients and 70% percent for multi-entity groups through FY 2033, and requires additional outreach to local governments; the Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act (H.R. 2659), which requires CISA to establish an interagency task force to coordinate federal efforts to address cybersecurity threats to the U.S. posed by state-sponsored actors; the Enhancing Stakeholder Support and Outreach for Preparedness Grants Act (H.R. 4058), which requires FEMA to provide regular outreach, education, and technical assistance to stakeholders when awarding state and local homeland security grants; and a bill (H.R. 6019) which repeals the rider enacted under the recently passed FY26 Legislative Branch spending bill allowing senators to be able to sue for up to $500,000 in damages if they have not been notified that a legal process seeks to disclose their data.

The House will also vote on three Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolutions (H.J. Res. 130; H.J. Res. 131; S.J. Res. 80) nullifying Biden-era Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rules impacting Wyoming and Alaska; the Researching Efficient Federal Improvements for Necessary Energy Refining (REFINER) Act
(H.R. 3109), which requires the Energy Department to direct the National Petroleum Council to examine the role of petrochemical refineries in U.S. energy security; the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025 (H.R. 1949), which repeals restrictions on the import and export of liquefied natural gas; the District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025 (H.R. 5214), which modifies local Washington, D.C., pretrial detention requirements to require mandatory cash bail or a bail bond for all defendants charged with “public safety or order crimes”; and the Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC (CLEAN DC) Act of 2025 (H.R. 5107), which largely repeals a 2023 Washington, D.C., law that overhauled local policing and criminal justice

The Senate will be in session Tuesday through Thursday and is expected to vote on Ho Nieh to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the remainder of the term expiring June 30, 2029. The chamber will hold multiple committee hearings and meetings on Wednesday and Thursday including; an Environment and Public Works Committee hearing to Examine the Future of PFAS Cleanup and Disposal Policy; a Finance Committee hearing on The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for all Americans; an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to Examine the BLM Land Use Planning Process under FLPMA; and a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on The Future of Retirement.The House will also hold several committee hearings throughout the week, including: an Energy and Commerce (E&C) Communications and Technology Subcommittee markup of 28 bills to streamline broadband permitting; an E&C Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee hearing on Innovation with Integrity: Examining the Risks and Benefits of AI Chatbots; a Small Business Committee hearing on Made in the USA: How Main Street is Revitalizing Domestic Manufacturing; and a House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries legislative hearing on four bills, including the Every Drop Counts Act (H.R. 338) which expands the Bureau of Reclamation's Small Storage Program, a grant program for small surface water or groundwater storage projects.

Week in Review

Food stamps are back, but millions will soon lose benefits permanently

The Trump administration plans major shift away from long-term housing for homelessness

House plans to vote Tuesday on releasing Epstein files

Trump says he’s talking to Democrats about direct health care payment plan

Trump administration to withdraw some National Guard troops from Chicago, Portland: Reports

FAA has lifted emergency flight reductions used to ease staffing pressure during government shutdown

Federal immigration agents launch crackdown in Charlotte, DHS announces

FEMA chief steps down as Trump administration prepared to oust him

Trump re-pardons a Jan. 6 defendant to erase unrelated gun conviction

Trump administration lays out plan for federal workers’ back pay after government reopens