NACo Membership Series: First 100 Days, Week 1

As FEMA resumes and restructures its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program, counties are reassessing projects that were put in limbo during its cancellation and creating new hazard mitigation gameplans ahead of its upcoming funding cycle. 

From flood protection and public safety to pest control and water infrastructure, mobile tours at NACo's Annual Conference in Orleans Paris, La. offer a firsthand look at local government in action — and plenty of inspiration to bring back home to your county.

NACo CEO Matt Chase writes: "Counties did not ask to be on the front lines of the AI era. But we are.  The power demands, the water use, the land battles, the tax base, the workforce changes, the pressure for public services — all of it lands on us first." 

Calvin Ball’s appointment to the Howard County, Md. Council in 2006 launched a county government leadership career that will have lasted more than 20 years when he leaves office after two terms as the county’s first African American executive. 

Two overlapping disaster recovery efforts are now unfolding in Washington: a sweeping executive-branch review of FEMA and a bipartisan legislative push to reform the agency through Congress. County officials should understand both tracks, what they could mean for local governments and where each stands today.

Counties that suffer major damage during natural disasters would benefit dramatically from a FEMA Act proposal to do away with reimbursement and instead offer counties recovery grants up front.