America's nearly 40,000 county elected officials and 3.6 million county employees are on the frontlines of the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic. As the country emerges from the pandemic and grapples with the toll it has taken on our citizens, counties are responding and rebuilding. At the same time, many counties are still confronting significant workforce shortage pressures at a time with growing, critical resident needs.

With American Rescue Plan funds, counties are strengthening America's workforce, addressing the nation's behavioral health crisis, expanding broadband access, improving housing affordability and building prosperous communities for the next generation.

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U.S. Congress pass minibus funding package

U.S. House and Senate appropriators passed a “minibus” appropriations package containing Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Interior-Environment, Commerce-Justice-Science and Energy-Water spending bills.

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Federal district court issues ruling preventing the federal government from imposing immigration compliance mandates on grant recipients

On November 4, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the U.S. Department of Transportation cannot condition federal grant funding on a recipient’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. 

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Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025 signed into law in victory for counties

On December 18, 2025, President Trump signed the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025 (P.L. 119-58) into law. The reauthorization of the SRS program is a major victory for counties and ensures that timber-dependent counties will receive critical funding to maintain essential local government services such as public education and transportation infrastructure. 

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State of America’s Counties Address Highlights Intergovernmental Partnership, Cost and Administrative Shifts

NACo President J.D. Clark, national experts share insights at policy summit in Washington, D.C.

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SAMHSA cancels, reinstates thousands of behavioral health grants

Late on Wednesday, January 14, the Administration announced that thousands of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants that had been terminated just one day earlier would be reinstated.