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How Townships can access clean energy tax credits in the form of direct pay/transferability

2025 NATAT Policy Platform

NATaT Tax Priorities

NATaT Transportation Reauthorization Priorities

NATaT December 2024 Annual Meeting

Jerry B. Crabtree, Heidi Fought (Ohio ED), Past President Neil Sheradin (Michigan Ed), and NATaT President Dave Sanko (PA ED)

NATaT Weekly Legislative Report

March 2, 2026

Congressional Outlook

Last Wednesday, House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Guidance for Community Project Funding (CPF) requests. The Committee also announced Member deadlines for the eight subcommittees accepting CPF requests, on Friday, March 13 and Friday, March 20 (depending on the account the request is submitted under). The quick deadlines are significantly expediting the process, and many Member offices have set an internal deadline of Friday, March 6 for project submissions to be received. In addition to the early deadlines, the House raised the cap of CPF project submissions to 20 per Member, up from the 15 project cap that had been in place since FY23. House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) pushed back against some of the new FY27 earmark rules published last week by the House Republican majority. Rep. DeLauro stated that continued restrictions on non-profit eligibility “continue a pattern of choking off support for non-profits like local YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs,” in addition to restrictions on eligibility for projects submitted under the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) account. By mid-March 2026, TFG expects the Senate Appropriations Committee to release their own FY27 guidelines and deadlines for submitting requests for federal funding through the “Congressionally Directed Spending” (CDS) request process.

On Monday, Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released text for their updated version of a large housing package, the 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Last month, the House passed, by a vote of 390-9, the Housing for the 21^st Century Act (H.R. 6644), while the Senate passed the ROAD to Housing Act (Division I of S. 2296) in October 2025 by a vote of 77-20. After voting Monday evening 84-6 on a cloture motion to advance consideration of the updated housing bill, the Senate this week will vote on the new substitute amendment to H.R. 6644 and hope to pass it by Thursday. The bipartisan legislation includes 36 of the 40 original Senate provisions alongside six additional provisions from the House-passed bill. The comprehensive package seeks to address the U.S. housing affordability crisis and expand access to homeownership. The White House issued a statement on Monday backing the updated housing bill, which contains measures to update local development and rural housing initiatives, increase the availability of manufactured and affordable housing options, safeguard borrowers and participants in federal housing programs, and strengthen supervision of housing providers.

Tuesday marks Day 18 of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) being shut down, amid an impasse by congressional leaders and the White House. Numerous agencies under DHS, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and U.S. Coast Guard, will continue to feel the squeeze of the lapse in federal funding, with tens of thousands of employees continuing to work without pay. The standoff remains over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) & Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding and demands for increased accountability from Democrats. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has scheduled a vote on Thursday on a slightly updated version of the chamber’s stand-alone FY26 Homeland Security spending bill (H.R. 7744). Even though it’s likely to pass in the House on a party-line vote, it will very likely not have the 60 votes necessary to advance in the Senate. Last week, Democrats rejected another counterproposal from the white House to end the DHS shutdown, calling on more reforms and accountability for ICE and CBP.

The House will be in session through Thursday and is scheduled to take up 14 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Enhancing Administrative Reviews for Broadband Deployment Act (H.R. 5419), which requires the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service to study barriers to and staffing needs for finishing timely reviews of requests for communications use authorizations; the Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025 (H.R. 755), which allows the Department of Energy to designate critical minerals along with the U.S. Geological Survey; the Captain Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo Young Fishermen’s Development Act (H.R. 3692), which reauthorizes the Young Fishermen’s Development Grant Program through FY2031; the Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act (H.R. 4307), which requires the Department of Labor to provide training and education to its employees on how to effectively assist law enforcement in detecting human trafficking; and the Home School Graduation Recognition Act (H.R. 6392), which clarifies that students who complete their secondary education in a home school setting recognized under state law are high school graduates for purposes of eligibility for federal student aid. In addition to the $64.4 billion FY26 DHS spending bill (H.R. 7744), the House may also consider two bills pursuant to a rule: the Deporting Fraudsters Act of 2026 (H.R. 1958), which clarifies that immigrants who have been convicted of fraud and/or unlawful receipt of public benefits are inadmissible and deportable; and the Bill to Outlaw Wounding of Official Working Animals (BOWOW) Act of 2025 (H.R. 4638), which establishes that immigrants who have harmed animals used in law enforcement activities are inadmissible and deportable. The chamber may also consider H. Con. Res. 38, which requires the President to cease all military operations against Iran that have not been approved by Congress.

The House will hold several hearings over the course of the week, including an Agriculture Committee markup to consider the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567), which is the chamber’s current version of the Farm Bill; a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security; an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment hearing on Legislative Proposals to Unleash the Potential of America’s Brownfields Sites; a House Judiciary Committee markup of the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act of 2026 (H.R. 7640), which is aimed at restricting “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities; and a Natural Resources Committee markup of 16 bills.

The Senate is in session through Thursday as well, and is scheduled to take a final vote on the 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act (substitute amendment to H.R. 6644). The chamber will hold numerous committee hearings and markups over the course of the week, including a Judiciary Committee hearing to examine the Department of Homeland Security; a Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness hearing to examine AI that improves safety, productivity, and care; an Energy and Natural Resources business meeting to consider three nominees, including Steve Pearce to be Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and 12 bills; a Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing to examine confronting child trafficking and the failure to protect America's most vulnerable; a Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee meeting to consider legislation that authorizes NASA programs and boost weather research by NOAA; and a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee meeting to examine transforming health care with data, focusing on improving patient outcomes through next-generation care.

Voters in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas head to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the first Democratic and Republican 2026 primaries to select nominees for U.S. House and U.S. Senate races in the November 3 midterm election. If candidates do not receive 50%+ of the vote in the primary election, the top two vote-getters in each respective race will head to a runoff election on March 31, May 12, and May 26, respectively.