Federal Update: Major Housing Bill Clears Congress; Awaits President’s Signature 

After months of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations, the House and Senate earlier this week gave final approval to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644), clearing the broad housing package for the President’s signature. However, despite a prior Statement of Administration Policy indicating support for the legislation, President Trump has so far refused to sign the bill unless Congress first advances separate election legislation, specifically the SAVE America Act. 

The delay leaves a major housing package, aimed at boosting housing supply and expanding housing financing tools, in limbo despite overwhelming support in both chambers. For counties, the bill includes several key priorities, including expanded flexibility within the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, reforms to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, new tools to support housing production and planning, and a three-year authorization of the CDBG-Disaster Recovery program to provide more predictable access to disaster recovery funding. 

The final package also includes a pilot program to support regional housing planning and community development activities, while preserving important county protections. Specifically, CDBG entitlement counties would be shielded from a 10 percent reduction in their CDBG allocation under certain circumstances, including if they have recently been subject to a major disaster or emergency declaration, face specified housing affordability or vacancy conditions, or have limited legal authority over zoning or land use decisions. In addition, the final bill no longer includes earlier provisions that could have inadvertently discouraged large-scale rental housing projects or displaced existing rental households. 

Looking ahead, the bill’s fate remains uncertain, though a veto does not appear to be the most likely outcome at this stage. If President Trump were to veto the measure, both chambers would have to vote again to override it. For now, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has indicated that discussions with the White House are continuing and that he remains optimistic the bill will ultimately be signed. 

There is also a procedural clock to watch. Once the bill is formally presented to the President, he generally has 10 days to sign or veto it. If he takes no action during that period while Congress remains in session, the bill would become law without his signature. That clock, however, has not yet started. 

New Election Security Bill Would Direct Funding to County Election Officials 

Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) recently introduced legislation – the State and Local Election Security Act (S. 4849) – that would authorize up to $10 billion over three years for state and local election administration. 

The funding would be distributed through the Election Assistance Commission using the existing Help America Vote Act grant program. It should be noted that the bill would require at least 50 percent of the funding to go directly to local jurisdictions, helping ensure county election officials can access resources without relying solely on state-level distribution. 

The bill is intended to help state and local governments modernize election infrastructure, improve the efficiency of election administration, and strengthen physical and cybersecurity protections. Eligible uses would include upgraded voting equipment, cybersecurity improvements, secure storage space, staffing, and other election administration needs. The legislation also would require states and local governments to report on how funds are used. 

The measure also includes $50 million for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to support election-related cybersecurity information sharing. That provision could help restore technical support and threat-sharing resources used by state and local election officials to identify and respond to cybersecurity risks. 

House, Senate Committees Advance Great American Outdoors Act Reauthorization 

The House Natural Resources Committee this week advanced bipartisan legislation – the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) 250 (H.R. 9250) – to renew and expand the original GAOA. The action follows the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s approval last week of its version of the legislation, known as the America the Beautiful Act (S. 1547), signaling growing bicameral momentum behind reauthorizing the program. 

The House bill, which is led by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA), would continue to provide $1.9 billion annually in mandatory funding – up to $9.5 billion over five years – to address deferred maintenance and improve recreation infrastructure in national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, BLM lands, and Bureau of Indian Education facilities. 

Funding would continue to be divided among federal land management agencies in the same manner, with 70 percent going to the National Park Service, 15 percent to the U.S. Forest Service, and 5 percent each to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Education. The bill also would prohibit the use of funds for new federal land acquisition and would increase the share of agency funding that must go toward non-transportation projects. 

The legislation could be particularly important for counties and communities near national parks, national forests, and other public lands, where aging roads, trails, campgrounds, restrooms, visitor facilities, and recreation infrastructure can affect tourism, local economies, emergency access, and the visitor experience. The bill also emphasizes rural gateway and tribal communities that rely heavily on public lands visitation and outdoor recreation. 

In addition to traditional deferred maintenance projects, GAOA 250 would create a new outdoor recreation and sportsmen’s access pilot program to support projects such as campgrounds, trails, boat ramps, hunting and fishing access, shooting ranges, and wildlife-related recreation infrastructure. The pilot would be capped at 15 percent of the fund. 

The legislation also includes several project delivery and accountability reforms, including new project selection and reporting requirements, a public project database, limits on administrative costs, and direction to streamline environmental reviews for eligible priority maintenance projects. The Department of the Interior and USDA would be required to publish clear project selection criteria on a publicly available website and consider geographic distribution, the balance of funding between large and small units, and whether certain units or states have previously received funding. The agencies also would be required to annually solicit project recommendations from governors. 

The bill also would authorize new foreign visitor fees at National Park Service sites, with 80 percent of the revenue directed to projects within the unit where the fee was collected. The fee language includes several guardrails, including limiting the provision to National Park Service sites, giving the Department of the Interior flexibility to tailor fees by site, and encouraging local stakeholder engagement so tourism-dependent communities have a role in the decision-making process. 

Finally, projects funded under the bill would be required to incorporate measures to improve access for individuals with disabilities. Agencies also would be required to include at least two projects authorized under the EXPLORE Act that improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities. 

Lawmakers Hold Hearings on Fraud in SNAP, Medicaid Programs 

This week, two House committees held hearings focused on fraud, waste, and program integrity in the SNAP and Medicaid programs. 

In a hearing entitled “Combating Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in SNAP”, the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency heard testimony from USDA’s Office of Inspector General and national organizations. Republican lawmakers on the Committee largely focused on the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to access sensitive SNAP participant data from states, which have been repeatedly held up in court. In preparation for the hearing, Subcommittee Chair Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) sent a letter to five Democratic Governors, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, highlighting their failure to comply with USDA’s data requests. A recording of the hearing can be accessed here. 

Separately, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing entitled “State Medicaid Program Integrity: Examining Fraud Risks and Oversight Deficiencies” as part of its ongoing investigation into Medicaid fraud risks in Minnesota, Ohio, California, and New York. Those states have also been subject to funding deferrals from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) tied to fraud-related concerns. Prior to the hearing, Committee Republicans released a memo outlining their investigation into the four states. 

California Medicaid Director Tyler Sadwith testified alongside his counterparts from Minnesota, New York, and Ohio. His testimony begins at roughly the 39-minute mark of the hearing. 

Coalition Files Lawsuit Challenging HUD’s Latest Changes to CoC Program 

A broad coalition of local governments and nonprofit organizations has filed a legal challenge to the Trump Administration’s FY 2026 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Continuum of Care (CoC) program, the nation’s largest federal homelessness assistance funding stream. The challenge was filed as a supplemental complaint in National Alliance to End Homelessness et al. v. Turner et al., an ongoing lawsuit contesting similar policy changes made to FY 2025 CoC grants. 

The plaintiffs, which include King County, Washington, and Santa Clara County, California, argue that the FY 2026 NOFO mirrors many of the provisions in the FY 2025 version that the court previously found were likely unlawful. They allege that HUD is unlawfully setting aside $1.3 billion for new projects only, despite congressional direction that CoC funds also be available to renew existing projects. According to the plaintiffs, that structure could leave a significant number of existing homelessness programs ineligible for renewal funding. 

The lawsuit also challenges several new compliance requirements that plaintiffs argue are unrelated to the CoC program, including provisions tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, immigration enforcement, and gender and sexuality issues.