Washington Report – May 18, 2026

May 18, 2026

Due to Memorial Day, the Washington Report will next publish June 1. Follow any developments through Government Affairs on X and LinkedIn.

National Public Works Week is here 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 are also participating 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., ET;
The briefing will include three GAC panelists and 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, which will honor APWA’s 2025 Top Ten Leaders 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.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) released a draft surface transportation reauthorization bill Sunday, the BUILD America 250 Act – Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America’s 250th Act;
The bill proposes $580B in transportation funding over 5 years, FY27-31;
If enacted, one new proposed funding stream to help finance the upkeep of roads and bridges would be an annual registration fee for EV and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners;
There is no proposal in the bill to increase the federal motor fuel tax, which is the primary funding source to the Highway Trust Fund and has not been increased since 1993;
A mark-up of the bill is tentatively scheduled for May 21, and APWA Government Affairs will track all developments;
If you review the draft and have specific comments, share them with APWA Director of Government and Public Affairs Andrea Eales at aeales@apwa.org;
Review APWA’s current policy priorities for transportation, and all APWA public policy priorities for this Congress, here.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is now required to publicize the status of requests for disaster relief through a publicly available, interactive dashboard on its website;
Pursuant to the enactment of Public Law (PL) 119-86, the Homeland Security and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act of 2026, FEMA must post reimbursement data on the dashboard no more than 90 days upon receiving the request, and within 60 days of a project entering Department of Homeland Security (DHS) final review;
The dashboard would track all requests for reimbursement made through the Public Assistance (PA) program.

Robert Fenton has been named the new Acting Administrator, taking over for Karen Evans who will be reassigned to another position within DHS;
Fenton has held various roles within FEMA for 30 years, including as a FEMA regional administrator;
President Trump nominated former FEMA Acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton to serve as the next administrator pending Senate confirmation.

FEMA is accepting comments on the Integrated Public Alert and Warning Systems (IPAWS);
FEMA needs feedback on how the IPAWS notification system can improve and streamline the public alert and warning system to disseminate timely and effective warnings to people facing situations involving wars, terrorist attacks, and disasters either natural or otherwise;
Comments will be accepted until July 7 and may be submitted through the Federal Register.

May 19 at 3 p.m., the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies has a hearing scheduled on the President’s FY27 transportation budget request;
May 20 at 11 a.m., the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hold a markup on the FY27 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bill;
May 20 at 2:30 p.m., the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee holds a hearing on the President’s FY27 Budget request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation;
May 21 at 8 a.m., the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (I&E) Subcommittee is scheduled to hold a markup of the FY27 I&E and Transportation, Housing Urban Development, and Related Agencies bill;
May 21 at 2 p.m., the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Environment is scheduled to hold a hearing, Research-Driven Resilience- Applying Science to Secure U.S. Water Systems from Cyber Threats;
May 21 at 2 p.m., the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection is scheduled to hold a hearing, State and Local Cybersecurity-Escalating Threats, Federal Partnership, and the Resilience of America’s Communities.