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How Townships can access clean energy tax credits in the form of direct pay/transferability
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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
June 9, 2026
Congressional Outlook
The House and Senate are back in Washington this week.
After the Senate passed its version of the $69.5 billion budget reconciliation package, the Secure America Act (S. 2), last week, the House is scheduled to take up the legislation on Tuesday. The bill marks Republicans’ second budget reconciliation bill in the current 119th
Congress — the legislation primarily funds Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through Fiscal Year (FY) 2029. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will need almost all 218 members of the House Republican Conference to vote for the bill, as he can only lose two votes for the bill with all 212 House Democrats likely to vote against the measure. The slim majority is an issue that the Speaker is not new to and to quell frustrations from party members, he has already alluded to House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith’s (R-Mo.) cited unwillingness to get on board with consideration of a third budget reconciliation package unless the inclusion of tax provisions receives a commitment from leadership. Members are pushing leadership to commit to certain tax items in the next reconciliation bill to secure their vote for S. 2. In the Senate, Republicans are fearful that the inclusion of tax provisions would allow for Democrats to propose amendments on healthcare, placing vulnerable Republican senators at risk ahead of the upcoming midterms. Prominent senators, including former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), do not believe a third budget reconciliation bill will occur while House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) recently stated that “the Speaker is completely committed” to a third reconciliation bill.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has delayed its plans to advance several FY 2027 spending bills for the second week in a row after Senate Democrats rejected several proposals on top-line spending levels offered by the Republican majority. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) planned to hold a markup on Thursday for the FY27 Commerce-Justice-Science, Agriculture-FDA, Legislative Branch, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, Interior-Environment, and Financial Services-General Government spending bills. Democrats are unwilling to support the next steps of the process until Chair Collins and Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) reach an agreement on how to divide defense and non-defense discretionary spending for FY27. Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee will continue its torrent pace this week, marking up its 10th and 11th
FY27 spending bills: Labor-HHS-Education and Homeland Security. The one remaining FY27 spending bill, Defense, is scheduled to be marked up on June 24 by the full House Appropriations Committee.
The nation’s primary spying authority is set to expire on Friday, June 12 without an extension by Congress this week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Speaker Johnson continue to run into major challenges regarding the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which provides the federal government the ability to spy on foreigners without a warrant. President Trump’s recent nomination of Bill Pulte as Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has only complicated matters as member of both parties believe the current head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency lacks the experience needed for the post. Democrats seem willing to withhold their support for reauthorizing the FISA program as long as Pulte is Acting DNI.
The House returned is scheduled to consider 19 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Pre-Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act (H.R. 8463), which expands efforts to identify, prevent, and recover improper payments of federal funds; the Federal Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention Act of 2025 (H.R. 6916), which prohibits federal agencies from awarding contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other types of financial assistance for three years to individuals who are convicted of specified fraud-related felonies; the ZOMBIE Act (H.R. 8467), which focuses requirements governing the assessment, tracking, and reporting of improper payments made by federal agencies on improper payments; and the Government Audit and Accountability of Federally Funded State-Administered Programs Act (H.R. 8107), which requires the Government Accountability Office to report on federally funded state-administered programs that are at high risk for waste, fraud, and abuse. The chamber will also consider five bills pursuant to a rule, including the Secure America Act (S. 2), the budget reconciliation legislation providing funding to ICE and CBP; the Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act (H.R. 8464), which directs executive agencies to take corrective actions to temporarily pause, condition, or segment payment voucher requests before certifying them if the agencies have sufficient reason to determine that the payments present elevated risks of fraud or improper payments; the Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act (H.R. 8312), which transfers fraud prevention capabilities of a pandemic-era federal oversight panel to the Treasury Department, which also would house a new governmentwide inspector general’s office for fraud; and the No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026 (H.R. 7892), which requires the Department of Education to establish an identity fraud detection system for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The House may also consider the Faster Labor Contracts Act (H.R. 5408), which requires employers to start collective bargaining within 10 days of receiving a written request from a newly recognized union and updates the National Labor Relations Act to allow either party to request arbitration if no initial agreement has been reached within 90 days.
Over the course of the week, the House will hold 23 committee meetings, including an Appropriations Committee markup of the FY27 Labor-HHS-Education and Homeland Security spending bills; an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy hearing on Nuclear Permitting Reform: Legislation to Advance Efficient Licensing; a Ways and Means Committee hearing on Digital Asset Taxation; a Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing on Local Needs in Disaster Recovery; an Administration Committee hearing on Preventing Fraudulent Donations: Transparency, Verification, and Accountability; an Education and Workforce Committee hearing on Breaking Trust: Attacks on Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content, and Legal Abuses in America’s Schools; and an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans: Examining Policies to Increase Health Care Transparency.
The Senate returned Monday evening and is scheduled to vote on the nominations of Anthony Mattivi to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Kansas; Anthony Powell to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Kansas; and Brock Dahl to be Legal Adviser of the Department of State. The chamber will hold 23 committee hearing and markups throughout the week, including an Agriculture Committee meeting to consider the nomination of Glen Smith to the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development; a Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety hearing to examine how technological advances are driving transportation innovation; and a Banking Committee hearing to examine AI and the American dream, focusing on promoting innovation, affordability and American dominance.
On Tuesday, voters in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, and South Carolina head to the polls to vote in Democratic and Republican primary elections for U.S. House and Senate races.
Week in Review
Senate OKs $70B immigration bill after rejecting efforts to permanently ban Trump’s settlement fund
Trump expected to nominate Todd Blanche as permanent attorney general
Trump doesn’t rule out giving Jan. 6 rioters who attacked police payouts from the ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
Surveillance tools expiration bears down on Senate
Pulte pick to lead national intelligence further jeopardizes renewal of warrantless spy powers
Treasury advances immigration crackdown
Judge blocks $100k fee for H-1B visas imposed by Trump
How sick is sick enough? New Medicaid work rule worries patient advocates, states.
Washington weighs new bipartisan AI proposal
Trump administration seeking to revoke citizenship of 17 in latest denaturalization push