Washington County briefed on federal funding outlook; county staff told to map vulnerabilities

On Jan. 16, 2025, the Washington County Board of Commissioners held a supplemental roundtable in which federal policy advisers from Van Scoyoc Associates outlined how the incoming administration and the 118th Congress could affect county funding and regulations.

The presenters told commissioners the short-term calendar is dominated by a congressional deadline of March 14, 2025, to finish fiscal 2025 appropriations and by the possibility of a separate reconciliation package that could seek large spending reductions to pay for tax and other priorities. "It's not something that they can flip the switch on," said Jim Crum of Van Scoyoc Associates, describing how legal and procedural hurdles limit how quickly administration priorities can be implemented. He and colleagues said agencies, Congress and the White House will work quickly in the first 100 days and that counties should be prepared to respond.

Why it matters: The board's federal relations team said some existing appropriations proposals could contain requests that benefit Washington County — including a previously tracked $2,000,000 congressionally-directed request for the Woodland Hearth public housing project — but those outcomes depend on whether Congress completes appropriations or instead uses continuing resolutions. Presenters also flagged a geographic authorization in the recently passed Water Resources Development Act that includes a $50,000,000 environmental infrastructure authorization the county could pursue with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Presenters identified several program areas that could see changes or be used as "pay fors" in a reconciliation package, including Medicare and Medicaid, SNAP (nutrition benefits), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and other housing and health programs. Van Scoyoc highlighted a set of proposed cuts — described in materials the county received as saving roughly $5–5.5 trillion over 10 years — and said those proposals would require intensive negotiation in Congress and among affected localities.

Commissioners pressed for timing and impact details. Chair Catherine Harrington asked how the county should prepare to brief its congressional delegation; Erin Doyle, Washington County government relations manager, said the county is already coordinating with Van Scoyoc and working to identify which programs and budget lines create the most vulnerability. Commissioners asked specifically about SNAP and the potential timing of cuts; presenters said reconciliation timing is uncertain but urged planning because cuts could be phased or timed to tax-year changes. John Fuller of Van Scoyoc noted the tight margins in both chambers mean many bills will require negotiation and that the administration can use executive orders for some regulatory changes but not to override statutes.

Presenters also described regulatory work streams: some actions could be reversed by executive order quickly, while others require formal rulemaking (with public comment) and take longer to implement. Van Scoyoc said the county should watch both appropriations and regulatory rulemaking and use public-comment windows to weigh in when needed.

County staff said they have started an internal exercise to map areas of dependency and vulnerability. "This first step may be asking us not to try to come back with the perfect answer, but to come back with what we have now," Erin Doyle said, explaining staff will flag areas where Washington County services rely on federal funding so the commission can prioritize advocacy and contingency planning.

Votes at a glance: At the end of the public roundtable the board moved to reconvene in executive session at 2 p.m. to discuss Clean Water Services matters and exempt records pursuant to Oregon law. The motion passed unanimously 5–0.

What presenters cited: FEMA and supplemental disaster funding pressures, the continuing resolution that extended appropriations to March 14, the Water Resources Development Act authorization for environmental infrastructure projects, National Flood Insurance Program extensions, and broader program names (Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, CDBG) as categories of potential change. Presenters recommended rapid coordination with the county's congressional delegation and that staff prioritize a list of projects the county would seek as congressional directed funding if appropriations proceed.

Next steps: County government relations staff said they will work with departmental leads to produce a short vulnerability list for commissioners and to scope which projects should be prioritized for congressional-directed funding portals and rulemaking comment periods.