Legislative Conference opens with President Biden scheduled to speak Tuesday

Key Takeaways

With the backdrop of the two-year pandemic and its ongoing challenges, President Joe Biden will address county officials Tuesday, Feb. 15 at NACo’s 2022 Legislative Conference.

Nearly 2,000 county officials from around the country are in Washington, D.C. this week focusing on federal policy issues at the conference, which kicked off Saturday, Feb. 12 and continues through Wednesday, Feb. 16.

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Legislative Conference schedule

County officials will meet with their counterparts and hear from the administration and others on topics important to their counties — from affordable housing to broadband to elections and immigration.

The 2022 Legislative Conference comes on the heels of major victories for counties in past months, including passage of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill in November and the American Rescue Plan Act last winter.

Among the featured speakers at this year’s conference are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Michael Regan and others including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

At a Capitol Hill press briefing Feb. 15, county leaders are set to discuss local government priorities with members of Congress including Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

They will discuss topics near and dear to counties including:

• strengthening the intergovernmental partnership
• implementation of the historic American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund
• critical need for full mandatory funding for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes  program
• impacts of the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy
• and the county role in addressing intergenerational poverty.