In a December 2 letter to Senate Leadership, special district stakeholders from across the country underscored their support for landmark legislation to federally define “special district” and urged Lame Duck action on the bill.
The American Association of Special Districts (AASD) is among 36 special districts and their national, regional, and local supporting organizations co-signed the letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., underscoring the importance of the Special District Grant Accessibility Act as the simple bipartisan solution to a complex issue facing the nation’s most common form of local government.
The House version of the bill, H.R. 7525 (Fallon), is currently pending before the Senate, and would formally establish a definition of what a special district is to drive consistency in how federal agencies view local special district governments in development and implementation of rules and regulations.
The American Association of Special Districts is committed to ensuring the nation’s 35,000+ special districts are recognized for the critical infrastructure and essential public services they provide to millions of Americans across all 50 states. For that reason, AASD strongly supports the Special District Grant Accessibility Act. This monumental bill serves to drive understanding across federal agencies to ensure special districts have level footing to access and interact with federal programming – from grant and finance programs to coordination on major infrastructure projects. The Association stands ready to be a resource on this effort to federal stakeholders for background on special district services, to provide constituent connections, and to deliver resources that special districts need to successfully advocate for the bill.
AASD Statement on Support of the Special District Grant Accessibility Act; December 4, 2024.
How the bill would work: The Special District Grant Accessibility Act would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – which is the clearing house for rules, regulations, and actions of federal programming – to issue guidance based on the formalized definition to clarify how all federal agencies should consider special districts as units of local government. Doing so would emphasize that special districts are, indeed, local governments eligible to access federal programs – thus, placing special districts on a more level playing field to access federally-funded grant and finance opportunities.
If signed into law, the formal definition would be the catalyst for further work with federal agencies to ensure special districts are accurately recognized in the same fashion as other units of local government such as towns, cities, and counties.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., has shepherded bipartisan efforts in the Senate alongside Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas. The duo are the leads for the bill’s Senate companion, S. 4673 (Sinema).
H.R. 7525 passed the House of Representatives, 352-27, in May. Leveraging the momentum of the Senate’s companion legislation, H.R. 7525 was favorably reported out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, 10-1, in July. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the lone dissenting vote.
Special districts are the most common unit of local government across the country. More than 35,000 special districts altogether provide a range of critical infrastructure and essential services to millions of Americans on a daily basis – including emergency services and public safety; energy services, environmental services, hospitals and healthcare; housing and community development; irrigation and flood control; library; mosquito, vector, and pest control; natural resources conservation; park and recreation; transportation; and water and wastewater services.
For questions, contact Cole Arreola-Karr, AASD Executive Director, at cole@americasdistricts.org.