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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Advocacy

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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Advocacy

County Countdown – Nov. 17, 2025

Every other week, NACo's County Countdown reviews top federal policy advocacy items with an eye towards counties and the intergovernmental partnership.


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News

Podcast: Eastern Tennessee counties invest in tourism during shutdown

Sevier County, Tenn. refused to let the government shutdown devastate its fall tourism draw—Great Smoky Mountains National Park. County Mayor Larry Waters describes the lengths he and his neighbors went to keep the park open. And NACo Chief Government Affairs Officer Mark Ritacco offers an outlook on what counties can take away from the shutdown and into the future.

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Advocacy

States submit Rural Health Transformation Program funding applications

On November 5, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that all 50 states submitted applications for the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program.

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Advocacy

Congress votes to end longest federal government shutdown in history

On November 12, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a Continuing Resolution and funding package (CR) to end the shutdown of the federal government that began October 1. 

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Advocacy

Congress advances resolutions to overturn three Bureau of Land Management resource management plans

On October 8 and 9, the U.S. Congress passed resolutions under Congressional Review Act authority expressing disapproval of three Bureau of Land Management resource management plans covering public lands in Montana, Alaska and North Dakota. The resolutions repeal recently finalized resource management plans and revert the areas to prior land use plans.