Washington County official: federal grant pauses and state budget uncertainty complicate local infrastructure plans

Washington County senior government-relations manager Aaron Doyle briefed the coordinating committee on March 17 about federal and state developments that local governments say are complicating transportation and housing plans.

Doyle told the WCCC that federal grant processes have experienced pauses, shifts in review criteria and litigation that together create uncertainty for projects that expected federal funding. He described new administrative review practices that have flagged applications based on keyword searches (for example, terms such as “equity” or proposed climate measures) and said some grants are being paused or reexamined even after long development periods.

"When you tinker here, you unwind," Doyle said, summarizing the effect of frequent procedural or policy changes on local implementation and permitting systems.

Federal issues: pausing awards and field-office reductions

Doyle said litigation tied to administrative decisions has slowed distribution of some already-awarded grants and that the administration's re-examination of pending grants has introduced fresh uncertainty. He also described staffing reductions and the potential closing of federal field offices as a practical barrier: when Oregon field staff at agencies such as HUD are reduced, it becomes harder to finalize agreements, resolve questions and coordinate programs such as CDBG or housing grants.

Doyle said the continuing resolution in Congress keeps FY24 funding levels into FY25 and removes earmarks from the FY25 proposed appropriations; he warned those choices have specific line-item consequences for transportation and housing funding that still need to be sorted out as Congress proceeds with appropriations.

State session and transportation budgeting

On the state side, Doyle said the current long session focuses on the 2025-27 budget and on transportation funding choices. He described the state's interest in revenue diversification to address a shortfall in operations and maintenance funding for ODOT, driven by an unindexed gas tax and the growth of more fuel-efficient vehicles. Doyle said regional projects that rely on a mix of local, state and federal funds may be harder to assemble this year, and he urged jurisdictions to preserve the 50/30/20 splits between state, county and city highway funds while seeking new revenue sources.

Housing and land-use policy

Doyle also summarized a wave of housing and land-use bills in the legislature that would require cities and counties to revisit codes and permitting processes. He cautioned that frequent statutory changes increase local permitting burdens and risk shifting staff away from counter support and permit review to plan-update work, producing unintended slowdowns in delivering housing.

What local officials should do

Doyle encouraged jurisdictions to document specific grant impacts and share them with congressional offices; he said members of the delegation have intervened successfully when local examples showed unintended consequences from administrative changes. He also urged coordination on revenue and local match commitments for projects seeking federal funding.

Ending

Committee members thanked Doyle for the overview and emphasized the need to track federal grant decisions closely and to feed concrete examples to the delegation when projects are affected. Doyle said staff will remain in contact and encouraged local officials to share instances where federal administrative shifts or state bill changes materially affect project timelines or funding.