DC Download: March 2025

On Friday, with the passage of H.R. 1698 by the Senate, Congress passed a six month spending bill for FY 2025 and avoided a government shutdown. The bill was later signed into law by the President. What we know at this point is that the bill cut funding to NOAA operations by nearly 12%. It is unclear what, if any, funding exists for NOAA PAC accounts. As with past spending bills, NOAA is given discretion to determine funding for programs within the confines of its overall budget. Therefore, details of the bill’s impact on the NERRS and our partner programs are still unknown.

The NERRA Board will be in DC next week to engage with Capitol Hill decision-makers. While there, board members will work to expand the Congressional Estuaries Caucus in the House by kicking off its first briefing in the new 119th Congress in DC on March 26th. We thank Representatives Bonamici (D-OR-1), Haridopolos (R-FL-8), Larsen (D-WA-2), and Mast (R-FL-21) for their leadership and hope to encourage more members with Reserves in their districts to join this bipartisan caucus.

As work on FY 2026 appropriations continues, NERRA is requesting full funding, consistent with a bipartisan NERRS Reauthorization bill from the last Congress (Resilient Coasts and Estuaries Act): $47 million for NERRS ORF and $10 million for NERRS PAC. Thank you to the many people who have been affirming the value of your Reserve and the System during this critical time.

To all NERRS friends and colleagues who wish to express support for Reserves to Congress this spring and summer, NERRA wants to hear from you! We are collecting stories and testimonials that highlight the values coastal communities place on Reserves, so that we can share this information with Congress. Also, we’ll soon be sharing tools that Reserve staff, friends, and supporters can use to join us helping Congress understand how important the Reserve System is to our communities and the nation.