Washington Report – May 5, 2025

Latest News

Engineering & Public Works Roadshow Heading Back to Texas

Continuing its whirlwind tour over the last month, the Engineering & Public Works Roadshow will make its next and 19th stop this Wednesday at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, TX, near Houston;
The Anderson-Ball Building was dedicated in a ribbon-cutting in August 2022 and, at 122,000 square feet, is the largest instructional building on a college campus made or built entirely of mass timber;
The new space includes classrooms, a lecture hall, and a robotics lab and promises to be a hub of innovative learning and ideas;
APWA Region VII Director Kristina Ramirez will represent APWA and offer remarks;
Watch all roadshow stops live at the Roadshow’s X account;
If you or your chapter would like to nominate a project to be considered for a Roadshow event, please reach out to APWA Government Affairs Media Manager Mark Shade at mshade@apwa.org.

APWA Submits Transportation Policy Priorities to House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee

Last week, APWA President Dominick Longobardi and CEO Scott Grayson submitted a letter to the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) committee outlining the Association’s policy priorities for surface transportation reauthorization;
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expires September 30, 2026, and authorizes federal funding and programming for the nation’s surface transportation network;
Aligning with APWA’s 119th Congress Public Policy Priorities for Transportation, APWA calls on the committee to:
- Continue its support for a bipartisan commitment and partnership among the local, state, and federal levels of government successfully demonstrated through the IIJA. It is imperative this federal commitment continues, and Congress seek consistent, predictable and adequate long-term infrastructure investment to at least match that of the IIJA.
- Ensure safety related transportation programs are strongly supported to continue decreasing the deaths and injuries that happen far too often on our nation’s transportation network.
- Essential the next surface transportation bill provides robust support and funding to continue building upon the success and increased resiliency of our transportation systems.
- Continue the bipartisan success of recent years in responsibly streamlining regulatory requirements and permitting processes that seek to protect our environment and support the economic strength and public health of our communities. It is especially important for small, rural, and historically disadvantaged areas to have direct access to technical experts so they can leverage resources to assist in these processes.
- Continue strong support for a public works workforce that is essential to building, operating, and maintaining our entire transportation network. APWA is a leader in public works education and credentialing programs to keep these professionals well-trained and on the cutting-edge of their roles and responsibilities which best support our nation’s infrastructure needs, economy, and quality of life.

President Trump Releases Proposed FY 2026 “Skinny” Budget

President Trump released his initial “skinny” proposed FY26 budget request, and is expected to release a full FY 2026 budget later this month;
This initial budget proposal recommends spending at 22.6% below current federal government funding;
Important for public works:
- Dept. of Homeland Security, $107.4B, an increase from this year’s $65.1B, and includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
- Department of Interior, which includes the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), an $11.7B decrease from FY25’s $16.8B.
- Department of Commerce, an $8.5B decrease from FY25’s $10.2B, the National Weather Service and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration are included.
- Dept. of Transportation proposed an increase to $26.7B in its base discretionary funding, though within this number is a proposed 11% decrease from certain Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) programs—including the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, and the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.
  - There is a proposed $770M increase to the competitive INFRA grants program for nationally significant highway, port, and freight rail projects.
- Environmental Protection Agency includes an additional $9M to provide drinking water during disaster response and $27M for maintaining drinking water and wastewater infrastructure on tribal lands. $2.46B decrease in the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRF) to $305M total. A significant portion of this decrease is from the expiration of IIJA funding.
- Dept. Of Agriculture proposed a $721M reduction for Rural Development Programs and $16M reduction in Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Watershed Operations, which includes maintenance funding for locally owned dams.
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a $7M reduction in their Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program (separate from the EPA program) which funds non-Federal dam safety projects.
- Dept. Of Labor proposed a 34% reduction from FY25 ($13.3B to $8.6B).
- Dept. Of Education proposed a 15% reduction from FY25 ($78.7B to $$66.7B).

APWA Offers Support of Senate Legislation on Flood Insurance Reform

APWA President Dominick Longobardi and CEO Scott Grayson submitted a statement, included in this press release, on behalf of APWA in support of the “The Repeatedly Flooded Communities Protection Act”;
The proposal, introduced by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), seeks to reform portions of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), including the following:
- Require communities that participate in NFIP and have been repeatedly flooded to assess the risks to areas damaged by floods, develop and implement community-specific plans for mitigating flood risks, and make these plans publicly available.
- Encourage communities developing mitigation strategies to work with FEMA to request data needed to better understand and mitigate against their risks.
NFIP is administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

APWA Submits Comments for FEMA Review Council

APWA has submitted comments for the newly established Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Review Council;
The Review Council was established through Executive Order (EO) 14180 this past January;
The Review Council is tasked with soliciting information from stakeholders, including individuals impacted by natural disasters, the research community, the private sector, state, local, and Tribal governments, foundations, and nonprofit organizations;
If you would like to submit comments directly to FEMA, be sure to include Docket Number DHS-2025-0013 in the subject line of the message, you may do so by sending them to FEMAReviewCouncil@hq.dhs.gov by May 15, 2025;
Additionally, please feel free to share your comments with APWA, you may send those to Government Affairs Manager Marty Williams at mwilliams@apwa.org.

On The Horizon

(All times ET)

May 6 at 10 a.m., the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Oversight;
May 6 at 10 a.m., the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials will hold a hearing titled, “America Builds: Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Rail Assistance”;
May 6 at 10:15 a.m., and May 7 at 10 a.m., the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on House Concurrent Resolution (H.Con.Res) 14-119, on the budget for FY 2025;
May 7 at 10 a.m., the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment is holding a hearing “Cleaning up the Past, Building the Future: The Brownfields Program”;
May 7 at 2 p.m., the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing on FEMA Oversight;
May 8 at 9 a.m., the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Oversight;
May 8 at 10 a.m., the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing to review the President’s FY 2026 budget request for DHS;
May 8 at 10 a.m., the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing titled “Winning the AI Race-Strengthening U.S. Capabilities in Computing and Innovation“;
July 15th through July 17th, FEMA will be conducting “E0431 Understanding the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) Course”;
- Applicants must use the NETC online admissions application system to apply for the course.