2025 NACo Legislative Conference Coverage
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Follow along with County News during NACo’s Legislative Conference: policy steering committees, General Session speakers, educational workshops and more.
Padilla calls for common sense bipartisanship to tackle disasters, mental health crisis
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) started learning about wildfire damage firsthand as a Senate staffer in the 1990s, which gave him experience and perspective seeing how counties responded after disasters.
Helping veterans, with an assist from counties, is ‘priority number one,’ VA secretary says
County officials can “touch more lives than any member of Congress or any governor,” because they see their constituents every day, said Doug Collins, the new VA secretary.
Risk mitigation, education top counties’ AI prep goals
Members of NACo’s Artificial Intelligence Exploratory Committee spent a year considering the capabilities, opportunities, threats and best practices that the rapidly developing technology sector poses for county governments.
LUCC members hear challenges, solutions to disasters
Disasters require coordinated, multi-level responses that support the long-term resilience of urban counties.
Rural housing affordability approaches crisis
Policy solutions mentioned in the national discussion on housing affordability often pose a mismatch with the conditions on the ground in rural counties.
NACo members explore adding a midsize county caucus
If the NACo Board approves it, a midsize county caucus would join LUCC and RAC.
Medicaid cuts threaten home and community-based care
Roughly 40% of home care workers live in low-income households and the majority rely on some form of public assistance, with about one-third relying on Medicaid.
Stakes rise for counties in municipal bond fight
Bond experts see alternatives pale in comparison to tax-free finance tools.
History fuels optimism for county veteran Maloy
The second-term member of Congress from Southern Utah sees parallels to the 1930s government transformation.
Panel touts bridging digital skills gap
Digital literacy skills are becoming increasingly crucial not just for county officials, but their constituents, too.
NACo kicks off 2025 Legislative Conference
County officials are addressing workforce gaps, land use, intergovernmental partnerships, disaster response and preparedness, federal regulations and the future of artificial intelligence at NACo’s 2025 Legislative Conference.
Conference
2025 NACo Legislative Conference
The NACo Legislative Conference brings together nearly 2,000 elected and appointed county officials to focus on federal policy issues that impact counties and our residents.
Top Stories
Explore the recent top stories from County News.
Public lands counties fight for SRS reauthorization
Without mandatory funding, county officials must consistently make the case to Congress for why payments of federal lands a crucial for providing essential services and infrastructure maintenance.
Designation period opens July 1 for new Opportunity Zones
Counties active in the Opportunity Zone process are highlighting census tracts that are ready for work to begin and where local, state and national economic development priorities are aligned.
A Government Close Enough to Touch
NACo CEO Matt Chase writes, "Self-government, including at the county level, has always carried a necessary tension: how do we balance the collective good and the rights of individuals?"
Illinois county mental health center first in state to serve youth, adults
DuPage County, Ill. worked for nearly a decade to acquire the funding and public policy changes needed to create its Crisis Recovery Center.