Washington Report – May 11, 2026

May 11, 2026

Latest News

National Public Works Week Events on Capitol Hill

National Public Works Week is coming, May 17-23 and there is a full schedule of events happening on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about the week, public works members and contributions;
The APWA Government Affairs Committee (GAC) is holding its annual spring meeting in D.C. and will meet with key Congressional members, staff and federal agency officials;
Members of APWA’s Board of Directors and CEO Scott Grayson will also participate in the D.C. activities;
A breakfast policy briefing focused on federal transportation priorities will be held May 20 in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2060, from 8:30 a.m.-10 a.m.;
The briefing will include three GAC panelists and Parker Edwards, who is the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Federal Highway Administration. The GAC panelists are:
- Jeff May, GAC Chair, Public Works Director for Clive, IA
- Adisa Aarons, Project Manager for Atlanta DOT, GA
- Kati Horner Gonzales, Owner of Katigon Consult, CO
The second-annual awards reception honoring APWA 2025 Top Ten and Projects of the Year award winners will take place that evening, in Rayburn 2168, starting at 5:30 p.m.;
The week continues Thursday, May 21, at 8 a.m. with Donuts and Trucks in partnership with the D.C. Department of Public Works and the sweetest public works tradition in D.C.;
For questions, or to RSVP if you are in the D.C. area, email APWA Government Affairs Specialist Jeff Finegan at jfinegan@apwa.org;
View the full schedule of events here.

APWA Recognized as O*NET Ally

The U.S. Dept of Labor has bestowed APWA with ally status for its Occupational Information Network (O*NET), the nation’s most comprehensive and free database of occupational and career information;
Providing descriptions of more than 900 occupations, O*NET is a critical tool for job seekers, career counselors, and HR professionals;
APWA’s status as an ally signifies the association’s commitment to strengthening the public works profession and contributing to national workforce data;
Read more about O*NET here.

FEMA Review Council Releases Final Report

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Review Council (Council) released its 75-page Final Report containing recommendations to President Trump, some of the proposed reforms would require congressional approval;
Recommendations from the Council include:
- Reforming the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) with a shift towards the private insurance market
- Incentivizing the launch of a “take-out” program to transfer policies to the private market and focus hazard mitigation funds on repetitive loss properties
- Maintaining environmental reviews at the local government level
- Shifting emergency response and recovery leadership to the state level
- Converting FEMA public assistance into a broader, upfront grant or block grant model
- Streamlining the Individual Assistance Program into a single direct payment that would be known as the Framework for Accessible Individual Relief (FAIR) Program
- Replacing the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) with a Two-Phase Funding Structure
  - Rapid Mitigation Advance – Within the first 30 days provide up to 5% of the federal government contribution for the disaster to facilitate immediate residential mitigation to primary residences and communities impacted by the event or in other high-risk zones
  - Strategic Mitigation Allocation – Within the first six months provide up to the remaining 10% of the federal government contribution to improve the performance of the NFIP by mitigating properties and critical infrastructure based on federal priorities
The President established the council to assess FEMA through Executive Order (EO)14180, Council to Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
Although the Final Report has been released, the FEMA Review Council will be accepting public comments until June 8;
Submit comments via email at FEMAreviewcouncil@hq.dhs.gov.

U.S. House Releases FY27 Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Bill

The House of Representatives has released its proposed FY27 Commerce, Justice, State funding bill, which, if enacted, would provide $77.3B, or 1 percent less than FY26;
FY27 includes:
- $10.2B for the Dept. of Commerce, a reduction of almost 9% from FY26
- $5.9B for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

CISA Releases Critical Infrastructure Resiliency Guidance

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released its Critical Infrastructure (CI) Fortify guidance;
CI Fortify was created to help CI owners and operators harden their systems to allow vital services in the U.S. to sustain essential operations during a geopolitical conflict;
CI Fortify is an allied initiative bolstering public health and safety, defense critical infrastructure, continuity of the economy, and national security by ensuring operators are prepared to sustain essential operations during a geopolitical conflict;
Operators should assume that in a conflict scenario, third-party connections – such as telecommunications, internet, vendors, service providers, and upstream dependencies – will be unreliable and threat actors will have some access to the operational technology (OT) network.

ON THE HORIZON

(All times ET)

May 13 at 10:30 a.m., the Senate Interior-Environment, Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing on EPA’s proposed FY27 budget;
May 15 at 9 a.m., the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled to hold a markup on the FY27 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bill.