On February 3rd, the House of Representatives passed the Senate Amendment to H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, with a vote of 217 to 214. Shortly thereafter, President Trump signed the bill into law. The appropriations package funds the U.S. Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Treasury and Transportation, as well as a funding patch for the Department of Homeland Security through February 13th. If a DHS funding bill is not enacted before the deadline, DHS, which includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), will experience a partial shutdown. All other agencies are fully funded through September 2026.
On January 23rd, President Trump signed into law a funding package that included three bicameral, bipartisan fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations bills: the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development; and Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bills.
WHAT’S IN THE PACKAGES?
Economic Development Administration Funding
The Commerce-Science-Justice appropriations package provides $466 million for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) in FY 2026, a modest $2 million reduction below FY 2025 levels. Given the previously submitted proposals for EDA funding in FY 2026, this is a strong reaffirmation of the agency’s role in regional economic development. Below are programmatic items whose funding levels changed for FY 2026 (in thousands of dollars):
|
Program |
FY2025 |
FY2026 |
Change |
|
Public Works |
$100,000 |
$100,000 |
= No Change |
|
Partnership Planning |
$34,500 |
$34,500 |
= No Change |
|
Technical Assistance |
$14,000 |
$10,000 |
🡻$4,000 |
|
Research and Evaluation |
$2,000 |
$2,000 |
= No Change |
|
Trade Adjustment Assistance |
$13,500 |
$7,500 |
🡻$6,000 |
|
Economic Adjustment Assistance |
$33,000 |
$39,500 |
🡹$6,500 |
|
Assistance to Indigenous Communities |
$5,000 |
$5,000 |
= No Change |
|
Assistance to Coal Communities |
$75,000 |
$80,000 |
🡹$5,000 |
|
Assistance to Biomass Communities |
$4,500 |
———– |
🡻$4,500 |
|
Regional Innovation Program Grants |
$50,000 |
$50,000 |
= No Change |
|
Good Jobs Challenge |
$25,000 |
———– |
🡻$25,000 |
|
Workforce Training Grants |
———– |
$10,000 |
🡹$10,000 |
|
Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs |
$41,000 |
$41,000 |
= No Change |
|
STEM Apprenticeship Program |
$2,500 |
$2,500 |
= No Change |
|
Recompete |
———– |
$18,000 |
🡹$18,000 |
|
Total |
$400,000 |
$400,000 |
= No Change |
Additionally, the bill eliminates the Good Jobs Challenge program and appropriates $10 million for nearly authorized Workforce Training Grants, while also shifting Recompete from a disaster supplemental to a new $18 million line item.
Regional Commission Funding
The Energy and Water Development package provides funding to Federal-State Regional Commissions (in thousands of dollars) as wells as establishes the Northwest Regional Commission:
|
Commission |
FY2025 |
FY2026 |
Change |
|
Appalachian Regional Commission |
$200,000 |
$200,000 |
= No Change |
|
Delta Regional Authority |
$31,100 |
$32,000 |
🡹$900 |
|
Denali Commission |
$17,000 |
$18,000 |
🡹$1,000 |
|
Great Lakes Authority |
$5,000 |
$5,000 |
= No Change |
|
Northern Border Regional Commission |
$41,000 |
$42,000 |
🡹$1,000 |
|
Northwest Regional Commission **Newly established** |
———- |
$1,000 |
🡹$1,000 |
|
Southeast Crescent Regional Commission |
$20,000 |
$20,000 |
= No Change |
|
Southwest Border Regional Commission |
$5,000 |
$5,500 |
🡹$500 |
|
Total |
$319,100 |
$323,500 |
🡹4,400 |
The newly authorized Mid-Atlantic Regional Commission and Southern New England Regional Commission and reauthorized Northern Great Plains Regional Authority are not currently active and did not receive funding for FY 2026.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill provides $77.3 billion for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development programs, an over $7.2 billion increase from FY 2025. Funding levels were maintained at $1.25 billion for the Home Investmest Partnerships (HOME) and $3.3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs.
Department of Labor
The Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill provides the U.S. Department of Labor with $13.46 billion for FY 2026, an increase of $65 million from FY 2025. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title I and Apprenticeships programs are level funded at $2.92 billion and $285 million, respectively.
Department of Transportation
The Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill provides $111.8 billion for the U.S Department of Transportation (DOT) in FY 2026, an increase of $4.3 billion from FY 2025. DOT Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program received a 58 percent cut and now sits at $145 million, compared to $345 million in FY 2025.
Department of Agriculture
The Agriculture-FDA appropriations bill provides $23.2 billion to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for FY 2026, an increase of $100 million from FY 2025. USDA Rural Development programs received $4.1 billion, with the Community Facilities Program receiving $677.2 million, a 30 percent increase over FY 2025.
Environmental Protection Agency
The Interior-Environment appropriations bill provides the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) $8.816 billion, a $320 million decrease from FY25. The EPA Brownfields Grant Program was level funded at $46.25 million.
IMPACT TO NADO MEMBERS
For Regional Development Organizations (RDOs), the FY 2026 appropriations package largely maintains funding stability across the federal agencies most critical to regional development, including EDA, HUD, DOT, USDA, DOL, EPA, and the federal‑state regional commissions.
LOOKING AHEAD
As agencies begin implementing FY 2026 funding, NADO will focus on tracking program guidance, funding availability, and the rollout of new or restructured initiatives across agencies. NADO will also provide any applicable resources in the event of a funding lapse for FEMA programs.