NADO Advocacy Blog

The 2026 midterm elections delivered Democrats control of both the House and Senate, reshaping the congressional landscape for the remainder of President Trump’s term. With divided government returning to Washington, Regional Development Organizations (RDOs) should prepare for new opportunities.

On November 12, the Senate Appropriations Committee released five fiscal year (FY) 2027 funding bills, including the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) bill that funds the Economic Development Administration (EDA). The bill proposes $36 million for EDA’s Partnership Planning program, $1.5 million above the FY2026 enacted level of $34.5 million.

On November 9, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a Notice of Intent for a department-wide reorganization, scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on November 10. The changes are intended to eliminate redundancies, streamline operations, and consolidate administrative functions so HUD can “deliver its mission with current resources following significant staffing losses.” HUD proposes no office closures or staff relocations, and implementation is expected to begin roughly 90 days after publication, in early 2027.

On November 5, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) designations for the ten-year period beginning in calendar year 2027. In total, 6,576 census tracts across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories were designated, of which 2,594 were located in rural areas.

On September 10, the U.S. Census Bureau published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in the Federal Register that would add two new parts to the federal regulations governing the decennial census ahead of the 2030 Census.

On September 30, the five-year surface transportation authorization bill, the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (IIJA), expired. On September 2, Congress enacted a short-term extension of IIJA extending contract authority for Highway Trust Fund programs until December 11. However, Congress did not extend advanced appropriations, leaving a a $36.8 billion annual shortfall beginning on October 1, 2026.

The funding lapse affects a wide range of federal transportation programs that have relied on advance appropriations since enactment of the IIJA. As Congress considers both a long-term reauthorization bill and potential additional extensions, transportation stakeholders across the country are closely monitoring the impacts on project delivery, planning activities, and state and local transportation investments.

On September 11, the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking and a notice of public hearing on information reporting requirements for qualified opportunity zones (OZs) as well as updated qualified opportunity fund (QOF) procedures for certification and decertification.

On July 31, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) finalized four rules that expand agencies’ ability to conduct Reductions in Force (RIFs), while also transferring authority over RIF-related employee appeals from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to OPM itself. The rules were published in the Federal Register on Monday, August 3, and are set to take effect 30 days after publication.

On June 23, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) introduced the Senate version of the 2026 Farm Bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026. Major portions of the Senate discussion draft are similar to the House version that passed back in April. For Regional Development Organizations (RDOs), this bill represents an opportunity to influence federal policy that shapes everyday life in rural America.

America has a shortfall of over four million housing units, the product of more than a decade of construction falling to meet household demand. Additionally for renters, the US is facing a shortage of seven million rental units for the lowest-income renters. For Regional Development Organizations (RDOs), housing is not a marginal concern. When families can’t afford to live where jobs are located, when rural communities can’t maintain an aging housing stock, and when localities lack the necessary planning capacity to zone for growth, regional economies are negatively impacted. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the most significant federal housing legislation in decades, seeking to address these challenges at a national scale.

On June 3, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on “The Federal Highway Administration’s Proposed FY2027 Budget.”

On May 29, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced a proposed rule for a sweeping revision of government-wide federal financial assistance rules (2 CFR), covering grants, cooperative agreements and related awards across dozens of agencies. The rule would require conforming changes by agencies including the departments of Agriculture, State, Energy, Treasury, Transportation, Commerce, Interior, Labor, Education, Environmental Protection Agency and others.