Senate Eyes Bipartisan FY 2026 Minibus Ahead of August Recess

With the August recess fast approaching, Senate leaders are working to finalize a “minibus” package of fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills. The legislation would combine three widely supported spending measures, including Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Commerce-Justice-Science. Lawmakers are also debating whether to add the Legislative Branch spending bill, though internal divisions remain, particularly among some Senate Republicans.

If an agreement is reached before the break, it could pave the way for early floor action in September and strengthen the Senate’s hand in what are expected to be contentious negotiations with the House. Senate Republicans are especially eager to advance as many bills as possible before the October 1 start of the new fiscal year, in hopes of avoiding a stopgap continuing resolution. Still, reconciling with the lower chamber may prove challenging, as House Republicans have advanced spending bills with significantly lower topline numbers and a host of partisan policy riders.

Despite getting a late start, the Senate Appropriations Committee is quickly making up ground. On Thursday, July 31, 2025, the panel approved two more FY 2026 spending bills – Defense and Labor-Health and Human Services – bringing the total number of appropriations measures advanced to eight out of twelve. Senate GOP leaders are aiming to maintain that momentum when lawmakers return in September.

Senate Panel Approves Bipartisan Housing Package

On July 29, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs advanced a bipartisan housing package – the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act of 2025. The ROAD To Housing Act is a comprehensive legislative measure combining more than 60 individual bills. Together, these proposals aim to expand and preserve the nation’s housing supply while improving affordability, accessibility, and program efficiency. The package is organized around several key titles, including financial literacy, housing production, manufactured housing, financing and affordability, program reforms and reauthorizations, veterans’ housing, federal oversight, and cross-agency coordination.

For California’s counties, the legislation includes several provisions of interest, particularly those that support local efforts to build and preserve housing, streamline federal housing programs, and strengthen coordination between all levels of government.

Key highlights include:

• Reauthorization of the HOME Investment Partnerships Program with updates to improve program administration (including additional administrative resources) and facilitate the construction of more affordable housing. The HOME Program is the largest federal block grant provided by the Department of U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to state and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households. Additionally, the package would authorize a competitive pilot discretionary program to convert vacant and abandoned buildings into attainable housing.

• Language to permanently authorize the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program and establishing an Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency within HUD to administer the program.

• Reforms to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service programs, including decoupling rental assistance from maturing mortgages to preserve affordable housing in rural areas.

• Reforms to HUD homelessness prevention and assistance programs, including streamlining processes within the Housing Choice Voucher program, cutting red tape for local homelessness service providers, investing in information technology upgrades for local Continuum of Care (CoC) organizations, and allowing states and localities that receive Emergency Solutions Grant funding to request a waiver of the statutory 60 percent spending cap on emergency shelter beds and street outreach. The package would also authorize demonstration projects or partnerships that involve collaboration between housing providers and healthcare organizations to provide housing-related supportive services to certain populations.

• Establishing a new pilot program to incentivize housing production by linking CDBG funding to local progress on home building. The legislation proposes a new pilot program to incentivize housing production by linking CDBG funding to local progress on home building. Under the pilot, jurisdictions that demonstrate improved housing outcomes compared to their own past performance could receive increased CDBG allocations. Conversely, communities that fail to make progress may see modest reductions in funding. Communities will be evaluated based on their own historical performance rather than national benchmarks, and those facing unique challenges such as low housing demand, signs of economic distress, recent natural disasters, or limited authority over zoning and permitting – will be excluded from the pilot.

• Creating an innovation fund to award flexible, competitive grants to local governments that are building more housing supply. 

Additionally, the ROAD to Housing Act includes legislation – the Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act of 2025 – spearheaded by Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) that would permanently exclude disability payments received by veterans from annual income for housing assistance eligibility purposes under the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program. 

The package also includes Senator Padilla’s Housing Supply Expansion Act of 2025, which would modernize the federal definition of “manufactured housing” to include modular or prefabricated homes built without a permanent chassis.

A section-by-section summary of the legislation can be found here.

Senate Panel Approves Disaster Assistance Simplification Act

This week, the Senate Homeland Security Committee unanimously approved legislation – the Disaster Assistance Simplification Act (S. 861) – that would help streamline the federal disaster aid process for survivors. Specifically, the measure would require FEMA to create a universal application for all federal disaster programs, eliminating the need for disaster victims to submit multiple, and often redundant, applications to different agencies. This streamlined process is intended to reduce administrative burdens and accelerate recovery.

Under current law and practice, disaster survivors must navigate a patchwork of agency-specific applications. This fragmented process can delay relief, create confusion, and discourage some from applying altogether. By consolidating the application process, the legislation would improve access to programs like FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program and the Small Business Administration’s disaster loans.

In addition to establishing a unified application, the legislation authorizes FEMA to securely share applicant information with other federal agencies involved in disaster response. This enhanced coordination is intended to eliminate redundant paperwork, speed up aid delivery, and reduce administrative burdens. It should be noted that the bill includes strict safeguards to ensure that all data sharing complies with federal privacy and cybersecurity standards.

The Disaster Assistance Simplification Act also gained bipartisan support in the previous Congress, where it passed the Senate but ultimately stalled in the House. However, momentum for reform appears to be building. A newly introduced House bill (H.R. 4669) includes similar provisions to streamline disaster assistance. As noted in last week’s federal update, that broader reform package aims to modernize FEMA’s operations and reduce bureaucratic barriers to recovery.

FCC Requires Local Routing of 988 Text Messages to Improve Mental Health Crisis Response

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to require wireless carriers to route text messages to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline based on the sender’s physical location, rather than the area code of their phone number. The change is designed to ensure that individuals in crisis are connected with counselors familiar with local resources and support systems.

Under the old system, texts to 988 were routed according to the sender’s area code, a method that often failed to reflect a person’s actual location. This led to individuals being connected with crisis centers in the wrong state, limiting access to local support services. The new rule corrects that gap by using real-time location data to ensure texts are directed to counselors in the sender’s immediate area, improving the speed and relevance of the help provided. The new policy aligns with a previous FCC decision from October 2024 that imposed the same requirement for voice calls to the hotline.

Since its launch just over three years ago, the 988 Lifeline has fielded more than 11.1 million calls, 2.9 million texts, and 2.4 million online chats. The new geo-routing rule marks another important step in strengthening the Lifeline’s ability to deliver timely, locally tailored crisis intervention.

Interior Department Issues Order to Strengthen Coordination with Gateway Communities

On June 25, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a Secretarial Order directing the National Park Service (NPS) to strengthen its coordination with gateway communities. These communities play a critical role in supporting national park operations by providing services such as emergency response, transportation, housing, and infrastructure. They are also directly affected by federal decisions related to public land access, tourism, and visitor management.

The new order formalizes and expands engagement between the NPS and local governments, creating a structured framework to ensure that county voices are included in park planning and decision-making. Under the order, each park unit is required to meet with local officials at least once per quarter and to consider community input when developing management plans, visitor use strategies, and fee proposals. Park units must also provide early notice and consultation before advancing any action that could affect local access, tourism, or regional economic activity.

To further support gateway communities, the NPS is directed to utilize cooperative agreements and existing programs – such as the Challenge Cost Share Program and the Federal Lands Access Program – to help address community needs related to transportation, housing, and emergency services. In addition, every park will designate a Gateway Community Coordinator to serve as a dedicated liaison for local engagement and to ensure that community perspectives are incorporated into park operations. Accountability measures are also being introduced, with park superintendents’ performance evaluations beginning in FY 2026 to include metrics tied to community engagement and responsiveness.

To track implementation and guide future improvements, the NPS director must submit a baseline report within 180 days detailing current engagement practices, followed by annual updates highlighting progress, challenges, and best practices. These reports will help inform future departmental planning and policy adjustments.

Counties that serve as gateway communities are encouraged to engage proactively with their local park units, monitor outreach efforts, and use this new framework to advocate for local infrastructure investments, service improvements, and economic development priorities.

White House Releases National AI Action Plan

The Trump administration recently unveiled a national framework to guide federal policymaking and infrastructure development around artificial intelligence (AI). The AI Action Plan, which is a directive from Executive Order 14179, outlines actions across three pillars: accelerating AI innovation, building American AI infrastructure, and leading in international AI diplomacy and security.

Key provisions include making federal lands available for data center construction, streamlining environmental reviews for such projects, and evaluating federal and state regulatory frameworks that may hinder AI development. In addition, the plan emphasizes workforce development, with federal agencies directed to support AI literacy, job retraining, and education initiatives through existing workforce and economic development programs. Finally, the plan establishes a new AI Information Sharing and Analysis Center (AI-ISAC) to strengthen cybersecurity coordination with local governments.