Conference attendees shaped NACo’s legislative agenda, received updates on key federal policies and advocated for county priorities with Congress.
Over the course of the four-day conference, attendees heard from county leaders, subject matter experts, members of the executive branch of the U.S. federal government and bipartisan members of the U.S. House of the Representatives.
Conference participants focused on critical issues impacting counties, including federal policies for nutrition, healthcare, disaster recovery and mental health. Additional issues explored were surface transportation, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, tax policy, election security, and energy and data centers. Sessions featured discussions on opportunity areas related to international economic development, housing and permitting reform.
Carter, who serves as Orange County’s delegate to NACo, remarked that “this is a crucial moment to ensure that county input is provided on federal policies. There was remarkable bipartisan concern voiced about unfunded mandates for counties resulting in unintended consequences for local communities.”
The conference culminated in an Advocacy Day of Action, positioning attendees to advocate for county federal policy priorities on Capitol Hill. Portie-Ascott, who serves as District 9 Director for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, observed that “North Carolina had the largest delegation at the conference, and we made sure our presence was felt. Our delegation filled the room during meetings with our U.S. Senate representatives, ensuring that the voices of our counties were clearly heard.”
Specifically, counties advocated for federal policy priorities that included:
