Washington Report – June 16, 2025

The House Committee on Appropriations released its proposed FY26 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Bill;
The bill includes an allocation of $66.36B in discretionary funding, which is approximately $1.37B or 2% above the FY25 enacted level;
Funding levels for agencies of note include:
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at $31.8B, an increase of $4.5B
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at $2.7B, a decrease of approximately $134M
The U.S. Senate has yet to release its proposed numbers.

President Trump has issued an Executive Order (EO) to address wildfire efforts;
The EO calls for the departments of Agriculture and Interior to consolidate their wildfire programs, to the maximum extent possible, within 90 days;
The President’s FY26 budget proposal also calls for the creation of a wildland fire service, which is presented as an effort to streamline how the government battles wildfires.

FEMA is out with an updated geographic information systems (GIS) tool;
This tool helps emergency managers and local partners assess threats and hazards that may challenge their community’s resilience;
To help users with the tool, FEMA will be hosting three, one-hour webinars (all times ET):

FEMA has released an updated State Mitigation Planning Policy Guide to reflect recent executive orders;
The Stafford Act requires state mitigation plans as a condition of receiving certain types of non-emergency assistance;
The guide helps facilitate consistent approval of state mitigation plans, promote risk-informed decision-making and support states in building mitigation capabilities;
Changes in this update include the removal of requirements related to climate change and equity.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has approved Sean McMaster to serve as the next Administrator for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA);
McMaster served as the Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Dept. of Transportation during President Trump’s first term;
During his nomination hearing, McMaster said he would like to continue improvements and simplification of permitting, which is a key APWA transportation policy priority;
A vote by the full Senate has not yet been scheduled.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, has made changes in its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program;
The BEAD program, funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), is intended to roll out high-speed broadband access and deployment across the U.S.;
Restructuring of the BEAD program seeks to eliminate non-statutory regulatory burdens;
NTIA’s new policy serves as notice to BEAD grantees that compliance with the restructuring must be achieved for final approval of their proposals.

The House version of the Wastewater Infrastructure Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety Act (WIPPES) Act H.R. 2269 passed out of committee and was placed on the consent calendar for the whole chamber;
The House is not in session this week;
Recently, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed the WIPPES Act out of committee (See APWA’s coalition thank you letter here);
The full Senate has not yet scheduled a vote.

APWA joined a coalition letter of local and state government and water associations in support of fully funding the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) and Water Infrastructure Funding and Innovation Act (WIFIA);
The President’s FY26 Supplemental budget proposes cutting the SRFs by over 80% and would defund WIFIA;
APWA supports fully funding both programs and the maintenance of the additional investments made through IIJA;
You can read more about APWA’s water policy priorities for the 119th Congress here.

We are asking again for you, if you have not already done so, to contact your U.S. Representative about the re-established U.S. House Public Works & Infrastructure Caucus using our handy action alert tool;
Using your zip code, a pre-generated email thanking them for joining will be sent if your Rep. is already a member; if your U.S. Representative has not yet joined, pre-generated language urging them to join will appear for you;
Participating in these action alerts is critical to helping amplify APWA’s voice in Washington, D.C.;
The caucus, originally established in 2016, plays an invaluable role in helping to educate Members of Congress and staff about the importance of public works and infrastructure;
Click here to email your lawmaker, then share the link;
Text PWX to 52886 to receive alerts via text message.

June 17 at 1 p.m., FEMA’s Grant Programs Directorate (GPD) Training Branch will host a webinar for federal grant recipients, subrecipients, and federal grants staff on monitoring grants.