2025 NACo Legislative Conference Coverage

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.

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.

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.

Disasters require coordinated, multi-level responses that support the long-term resilience of urban counties.

Policy solutions mentioned in the national discussion on housing affordability often pose a mismatch with the conditions on the ground in rural counties.

If the NACo Board approves it, a midsize county caucus would join LUCC and RAC.

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.

Bond experts see alternatives pale in comparison to tax-free finance tools.

The second-term member of Congress from Southern Utah sees parallels to the 1930s government transformation.

Digital literacy skills are becoming increasingly crucial not just for county officials, but their constituents, too. 

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.