Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Federal Grants topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sen. Schiff staff flags federal grants, urges early outreach for Salinas projects
Summary
Sen. Adam Schiff’s Central California regional director told Salinas attendees there are several federal grant windows open this summer — and urged project sponsors to coordinate early with congressional staff and monitor Grants.gov to increase competitiveness for scarce funds.
Kathy Mahan, central California regional director for U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, used a Salinas infrastructure summit presentation to walk local officials through federal funding opportunities and near‑term deadlines.
"The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has passed a Build America bill funded at $580,000,000,000 for fiscal years '27 through '31, but it has not gone to a full House vote," Mahan said, warning that the bill's prospects were uncertain. She said federal transit and surface transportation reauthorizations remain in flux and urged communities to plan for likely short‑term extensions and stopgap measures.
Mahan highlighted several active federal grant programs that Salinas and regional partners should watch: FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program with an application deadline she said is July 23; Federal Highway Administration bridge investment grant application windows on June 15 (planning) and June 29 (project); USDA resource‑conservation funding announced at $65,000,000 with a July 27 deadline; and a Department of Justice COPS grant round with a July 16 deadline. "Pay attention to Grants.gov," she told the audience. "There are a lot of grants coming up just in the last week or so."
Mahan also described how congressional directed funding (commonly called earmarks) is processed in her office and warned that requests are competitive: her office received more than 1,300 applications for fiscal year 2027 and submitted far fewer than 100. She urged jurisdictions to engage early with her office, share project descriptions and priorities, and be ready to provide compact, well‑scoped applications that congressional and agency staff can evaluate quickly.
The practical takeaway for Salinas project sponsors was twofold: watch near‑term federal deadlines closely and use staff and congressional office relationships to improve application quality. Mahan closed by inviting attendees to meet with her throughout the day to discuss specific local projects.
The city’s next steps: identify priority projects, align them with federal program objectives, and begin outreach to the senator’s office well before grant deadlines.
