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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 15, 2026
Congressional Outlook
The House and Senate are in Washington this week. After this Thursday, the House will stand in recess until November 9, the week after the midterm elections, while the Senate is scheduled to remain in session until October 1.
Following President Donald Trump’s signing of the stopgap continuing resolution (CR) into law (PL 119-103) on September 2, lawmakers now have until Friday, December 11 to finalize a deal on all twelve FY 2027 spending bills during the lame duck session following the midterm elections. The CR also includes numerous authorization extensions through Dec. 11, including for surface transportation programs, and language prohibiting the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from issuing or finalizing, on or before Dec. 11, its proposed rule on Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance first published on May 29. As reported previously in TFG’s Legislative Update, the Senate is lagging far behind the House regarding the FY 2027 appropriations process—the Senate Appropriations Committee has not held a single markup for any of the twelve bills funding the federal government to-date. Included in the Senate’s appropriations process are the lists of approved FY27 Congressionally Directed Spending (earmarks) submitted by senators in April which impact many local communities—the upper chamber may opt to publicly release the selected projects in the coming weeks.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a discussion draft on Aug. 27 kicking off the reauthorization of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), packaged as the Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2026. As written, it would authorize the program through FY 2031 at $1.12 billion annually, though it stops short of carving out dedicated money for lead service line replacement or emerging contaminants, a gap that has already drawn concern from water utilities. The clock is running: the underlying DWSRF authorization lapses Sept. 30, and communities that rely on the fund to finance water system upgrades have a direct stake in how quickly, and in what form, Congress acts. As Congress and local communities continue to grapple with how to approach data centers, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment also discussed the Water Cost Accountability Act of 2026, which would require data centers to pay for any water infrastructure upgrades needed to operate the centers and prohibit public water systems from passing costs to ratepayers. The bill would serve as an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act. It should be noted that the Senate’s Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (WRDA; S. 4949) includes an extension of both the DWSRF and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).
Last week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) opened a comment period around a new set of priorities it wants to reward in future Continuum of Care funding rounds. Among the approaches from HUD’s notice titled “Notice of Research Justifying Additional Incentives for Certain Activities To Reduce Homelessness,” includes a provision incentivizing housing programs focused on the following: transitional housing paired with mandatory supportive services, sobriety-based housing models, participation agreements that condition assistance on service engagement, and closer coordination with police and first responders. The comment window runs through Oct. 13 and will inform the terms of HUD's next CoC funding notice.
Bank regulators moved on Aug. 12 to loosen Community Reinvestment Act obligations for a broad swath of the banking industry. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) proposed raising the asset thresholds that determine which banks are examined as “large” institutions, and would also drop the “purpose test” currently applied to economic development lending. Changes will impact local communities, CRA-motivated institutions supply more than 80 percent of the equity behind the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit programs each year, so fewer banks facing full CRA scrutiny could mean less of that capital flowing to affordable housing and community development deals, especially in markets served by only a handful of banks.
The House returned on Monday evening and is scheduled to consider 71 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (H.R. 9497), the House’s version of the biennial legislation establishing authorizations and priorities related to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other water resource programs; the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340), which requires state utility regulators and nonregulated utilities to consider implementing a standard to hold certain large-load customers responsible for the costs associated with any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade of electric service necessary to serve such customers; the GUARD Act (H.R. 2978), which allows state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and grantees that receive funds from certain law enforcement grant programs to use the funds to investigate general financial fraud; the Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act
(S. 2398), which reauthorizes, through FY2030, activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address vector-borne diseases via a national strategy, and authorizes grants for regional centers of excellence, and cooperative agreements with state, local, and tribal health departments; the I&A Mission Reorientation Act of 2026 (H.R. 7443), which requires the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prioritize providing intelligence support to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments and private sector entities equally; the Load Forecasting Enhancement Act (H.R. 9332), which requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to establish regional boards to study and recommend best practices for electric load forecasting and requires states to consider adopting the recommendations; the Advancing Water Research and Collaboration Act of 2025 (H.R. 7889), which reauthorizes, through FY2029, and modifies the Water Resources Research Act Program, which provides grants for Water Resources Research Institutes; the Stopping Political Discrimination in Disaster Assistance Act (H.R. 1342), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of political affiliation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2025
(H.R. 4646), which expands existing whistleblower protections for employees of federal contractors or grant recipients to apply to all contracts and grants funded by HUD; and the Common Cents Act (H.R. 10167), which would end the production of the penny for general circulation.
The House will also consider five bills and resolutions pursuant to a rule, including the PROOF Act (H.R. 10326), which requires states to share information with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to support its investigations into alleged federal benefits fraud; the National Fraud Enforcement Division Act of 2026 (H.R. 9576), which codifies DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; the Senate-passed Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (H.R. 5334), which requires the U.S. to impose numerous sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior government officials, corporations, and financial institutions until Russia ends military hostilities against Ukraine; and two Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolutions (H.J. Res. 210 & H.J. Res. 213) nullifying Biden Administration EPA authorizations allowing California to require certain vessels to reduce their emissions while berthed at specific marine terminals and ports, and to set stricter emissions standards for commercial harbor craft, respectively. The chamber may also consider H. Con. Res. 93, a War Powers Resolution directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran.
Throughout the course of the week the House will hold 36 committee hearings and markups, including a Homeland Security Committee hearing on 25 Years Later: Evolutions in Federal, State, and Local Counterterrorism Efforts Since 9/11; a Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement hearing on The Continuing Tragedy of Sanctuary Laws; an Appropriations Transportation-HUD Subcommittee hearing on Oversight of the Federal Aviation Administration; a Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing on Innovation in Disaster Prevention: Advancing Technology for Prediction and Response; a Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development hearing on Main Street Meets Crypto: What Digital Assets Mean for Small Businesses; and an Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency hearing on Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services.
The Senate also returned Monday evening and is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Matthew Byrne to be a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio. On Tuesday afternoon, the chamber will vote on a motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633), which would establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency markets.
Over the course of the week, the Senate will hold 17 committee hearings and markups, including an Agriculture Committee markup of the Agricultural Act of 2026 (i.e., the Farm Bill); a Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; a Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee nomination hearing for Leslie Becera to be Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Governmental Affairs and Danielle Severs to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission; and an Energy and Natural Resources Committee markup of 24 bills.
Voters in Delaware head to the polls on Tuesday to vote in Democratic and Republican primaries for U.S. House and Senate races, marking the last congressional primary election prior to the Nov. 3 general election. Beginning Wednesday, nominees for all 435 House races
and 35 Senate races
will be finalized.
Week in Review
Senate returns today for final legislative sprint ahead of midterms
US AI regulation calls gather pace
Trump tries to kill regulations on 'HOAX' AI dangers
Second federal judge freezes Trump mail ballot order with Supreme Court poised to weigh in
ICE has no plans to ‘sweep polling locations’ for noncitizens, Homan says
Speaker Johnson says Congress could work with Trump to deliver $5,000 payments to Americans but there are no guarantees
EPA to eliminate limits on climate pollution from power plants
States and cities sue over ‘public charge’ green card restrictions