Federal Update: Congress Pushes Funding and Transportation Deadlines to December

This week, the House gave final approval to a stopgap government funding bill that will keep federal agencies funded through December 11, averting a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on October 1 and giving Congress additional time to negotiate full-year appropriations during the post-election lame-duck session. 

The Continuing Resolution (CR), which President Trump signed into law on September 2, also prevents the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from finalizing proposed changes to the federal Uniform Guidance governing federal grants until at least December 11. The delay provides additional time for counties and other grant recipients that have raised concerns about the proposal, which would give political appointees a greater role in reviewing and influencing federal grantmaking decisions. 

The measure also extends federal surface transportation programs through December 11, as Congress is increasingly expected to miss the September 30 deadline for completing a full surface transportation reauthorization. In addition, the CR delays implementation of a ban on intoxicating hemp products that was scheduled to take effect next month. 

Meanwhile, House Republican leaders announced Thursday that they are canceling the final two weeks of the chamber’s pre-election legislative schedule, significantly shortening what had been expected to be a busy September. The House is now scheduled to return for one week following the Labor Day recess, with members expected to leave Washington no later than September 17 and remain out of session until mid-November. 

Republican leaders indicated that members could be recalled during the canceled session weeks if the Senate advances a party-line budget reconciliation package, though such action is not currently expected. 

Madera County Supervisor Macaulay Brings County Perspective to Public Lands Hearing 

On September 2, the House Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a legislative hearing on nine public lands bills, including legislation (H.R. 10128) would make permanent new requirements for the National Park Service (NPS) to regularly consult with communities surrounding national parks. The bill would require NPS to meet quarterly with gateway community leaders, consider local input in park planning and management decisions, engage communities earlier, and designate a gateway community coordinator at each park unit. 

Madera County Supervisor Robert “Bobby” Macaulay testified in support of the bill, drawing on Madera County’s experience as a gateway to Yosemite National Park. Supervisor Macaulay emphasized that gateway communities provide much of the infrastructure and services that support national park visitation – including roads, emergency response, transportation, lodging, and other visitor services – while also dealing with the local impacts of federal decisions. 

He told lawmakers that decisions made by the National Park Service can have significant effects on local economies, housing, traffic, public safety, and county services. Macaulay argued that regular communication with local governments can help identify problems earlier and lead to better decisions for both parks and the surrounding communities. 

FCC Proposes New Broadband Permitting Requirements for Local Governments 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing new rules that could significantly affect how California counties permit wireline broadband projects and manage their public rights-of-way. 

Under the proposal, counties and other local governments would generally have 120 days to act on permits for wireline broadband projects, including fiber. If a local government does not act within that timeframe, the FCC could presume that the delay violates federal law. 

The FCC is also looking to limit the fees counties can charge for permits and use of public rights-of-way. In general, fees would need to be tied to the county’s actual costs. The FCC is also considering standard fee levels that would automatically be considered reasonable. Other requirements placed on providers, such as providing conduit, fiber, equipment, or services as part of a project, could also be subject to these limits. 

The FCC argues that the changes would make broadband projects faster and less expensive to build by creating a more predictable permitting process. 

CSAC has already raised concerns about many of these proposals. When the FCC first began looking at whether local permitting was slowing broadband deployment, CSAC – along with RCRC and the League of California Cities – submitted comments opposing strict federal permitting deadlines, limits on counties’ ability to recover their costs, and broader federal restrictions on how local governments manage their rights-of-way. 

CSAC and its partners also made the point that local permitting is not necessarily what is keeping broadband from reaching unserved communities. In many rural parts of California, the bigger challenge is that broadband networks can be expensive to build and may not serve enough customers to make the investment worthwhile for providers. Difficult terrain and wildfire-related requirements can add to those costs. Simply limiting county permitting authority or fees, therefore, may not result in companies building broadband in communities where the economics still do not work. 

The FCC is accepting comments on the proposed rule through September 21. 

U.S. Forest Services Proposes Rescinding National Roadless Rule 

The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which generally limits road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting in designated roadless areas of the National Forest System. The proposal is particularly relevant for California, which has roughly 4.4 million acres of inventoried roadless areas across its national forests. 

If finalized, the change would remove the nationwide restrictions and give individual national forests more flexibility to manage these areas under their existing forest plans. The Trump administration argues that the change could make it easier to carry out forest health and fuels treatments, improve access for wildfire response, and allow decisions to be made closer to the communities affected. 

Much of the opposition has come from the environmental community, which has raised concerns that rescinding the rule could lead to more roadbuilding and logging in currently protected areas, with potential impacts on watersheds, wildlife habitat, recreation, and wildfire risk. Some critics have also warned that additional roads could create new long-term maintenance costs. 

It should be noted that rescinding the Roadless Rule would not automatically authorize new roads, logging, or other projects. Individual projects would still have to comply with the applicable national forest plan, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other federal requirements. 

Counties with national forest lands may want to review the Forest Service’s roadless-area maps to determine which areas within their boundaries could be affected and consider submitting comments on how greater management flexibility – or the loss of existing protections – could affect wildfire risk, public access, watersheds, recreation, local infrastructure, and nearby communities. 

Comments on the proposal are due September 21. 

California Democrats Press Trump Administration to Release Medicaid Funding 

Every Democrat in California’s congressional delegation – including Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff – recently signed onto a letter urging the Trump Administration to release $867.5 million in federal Medicaid funding that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently deferred while it seeks additional information from the state. 

The latest action comes after CMS paused another $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California earlier this year, which lawmakers noted was the largest payment deferral in the agency’s history. CMS has pointed in part to rapid spending growth in California’s in-home care programs as a reason for reviewing the state’s claims. 

In the letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, the lawmakers emphasized that they support efforts to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse but argued that CMS has not identified specific fraud to justify withholding the funding. They warned that continued delays could put additional pressure on the state’s health care system and threaten access to care for Californians who rely on Medicaid. 

The delegation is urging federal officials to resolve the outstanding questions quickly and release the funding. 

DHS Releases New Guidance on Public Charge Rule 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released new guidance explaining how immigration officials should implement the administration’s public charge rule. Both the rule and the guidance take effect on September 18. 

The public charge policy is used to determine whether certain immigrants may be denied admission to the United States or permanent residency because the government believes they are likely to rely heavily on public benefits. Under the new rule, immigration officers will have greater discretion to consider a person’s past use of income-based public benefits as part of that decision. 

The new guidance, however, still leaves some important questions unanswered. DHS does not provide a clear definition of which benefits are considered “means-tested” or a complete list of the programs that immigration officials may consider. That leaves uncertainty about how participation in health care, nutrition, housing, and other assistance programs could affect an immigration application. 

The guidance does provide some examples. It indicates that income-based school meal programs, WIC, and emergency Medicaid could be considered, while benefits people earn through work, such as Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance, would not. The guidance also suggests that benefits received by some family members, including U.S. citizen relatives, could factor into the review. 

Receiving public benefits by itself would not automatically result in someone being considered a public charge. Immigration officials would still look at the person’s overall circumstances, including factors beyond benefit use. 

The administration estimates that roughly 1.3 million immigrants and family members could leave or choose not to enroll in public benefit programs for which they are eligible because of the rule, reducing annual program spending by an estimated $13 billion. Legal challenges to the rule and the new guidance are expected. 

Court Blocks HUD’s Latest Changes to Homelessness Funding 

A federal judge has thrown out the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fiscal year 2026 Continuum of Care (CoC) funding notice, putting the current grant competition and its deadlines on hold. 

The CoC program provides more than $4 billion nationally each year for local homelessness programs and is a major source of funding for permanent supportive housing and other services administered by counties and their community partners. 

The court found that HUD did not follow the required public process before making major changes to how CoC funding would be awarded. HUD has appealed the decision, but for now the FY 2026 funding notice and its application deadlines are no longer in effect. 

The FY 2026 proposal was less sweeping than the changes HUD attempted to make last year, but it still would have shifted a larger share of funding away from existing permanent housing programs and toward transitional housing and supportive services. The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated that the NOFO could have resulted in nearly 97,000 people nationwide losing access to permanent supportive housing beds. 

CSAC has been actively engaged on this issue. When HUD proposed much larger changes to the CoC program last year, CSAC urged the California congressional delegation to oppose the proposal and asked Congress to protect existing CoC grants by providing automatic 12-month renewals. 

The latest court decision does not rule on whether HUD can ultimately make changes to the CoC program. Instead, the judge found that HUD must follow the proper process before making changes of this scale. HUD could therefore appeal the ruling or issue a new funding notice that follows those requirements. 

CSAC will continue tracking the litigation and any new guidance from HUD, particularly as counties and local CoCs wait for clarity on the FY 2026 funding process. 

Federal Resilience Grants Available for Roads, Bridges, and Evacuation Routes 

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has opened a new round of funding through the PROTECT Competitive Grant Program, with up to $787 million available nationwide for projects that make transportation infrastructure more resilient to flooding, wildfire, extreme weather, and other natural hazards. 

Counties are directly eligible to apply. Funding can support roads, bridges, evacuation routes, drainage improvements, transit, ports, and other transportation infrastructure, as well as planning and vulnerability assessments. At least 25 percent of the funding is reserved for rural areas. 

Counties interested in applying should begin identifying vulnerable transportation assets, especially projects already included in hazard mitigation, transportation, evacuation, or resilience plans. Counties without a construction-ready project may also consider applying for planning funds to assess vulnerabilities or develop future projects. 

Applications are due on October 9, 2026.