Below are the City of Tigard’s key federal legislative priorities. In coordination with our partners, Tigard will continue to pursue additional opportunities that align with our values as they arise.

Project Specific Funding Requests

Public Safety Facility

Tigard is committed to maintaining reliable public safety and emergency response services under both normal conditions and during major emergencies. The City of Tigard seeks funding to plan and design a resilient facility for our emergency responders – Tigard Police and Public Works – and to house our Emergency Operations Center. This new resilient and energy-efficient facility will support service continuity, regional partnership, and community support in emergency situations. Current city facilities, including those for Police, Public Works, and Emergency Operations, are functionally limited, seismically unsafe, geographically dispersed, and overcrowded.

72nd Ave Corridor Improvements

Tigard is requesting $24,657,765 from the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) towards final design and construction of The Ave – A New Mobility Corridor for a Better Tigard Triangle project. Federal funding would support the implementation of a Complete Streets design along SW 72nd Avenue, transforming a congested, automobile-oriented arterial, into an attractive, safe, multimodal street for all users.

Release Funds for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Grant

Round 1B grant was awarded to Tualatin and Neighbors Charging Up (TANC-UP) project in August 2024 to serve 17 cities for the construction of 1,000 charging ports that will primarily serve low and moderate-income, and multifamily residents. Despite a recent federal court ruling that explicitly barred the administration from further interference in the $5 billion effort to build electric vehicle charging stations nationwide, grant funds remain frozen.

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Policy Priorities

Transportation and Infrastructure

Tigard supports equitable, accessible, safe, and climate-friendly transportation and infrastructure policy and investments. Tigard plans to pursue opportunities accessible to cities from the future Surface Transportation Reauthorization.

Transportation Reauthorization Bill

Tigard supports encouraging the inclusion of funding opportunities within the transportation reauthorization bill that can be used to expand surface and public transportation programs, in key areas of the city such as the 500-acre greenfield site known as River Terrace.

Reform the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC)

Tigard supports reforms to the LIHTC program to ensure production of housing units at lower-than-market rents for very low-income households. The program should require lower affordability targets and longer affordability periods to qualify. The current 60% AMI targets and 30-year agreements are not serving our community well. Congress should hold hearings to ensure the LIHTC program creates units which fill a shortage of undersupplied housing for very low-income renters.

Increase Funding for Affordable Housing Rental Assistance

Flat funding or insufficient funding increases have reduced the number of vouchers available. Tigard opposes proposed language that prohibits Public Housing Agencies from, “any new vouchers or otherwise [assisting] new families,” including through Project-Based Vouchers, “except vouchers for HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing and the family unification program.” Congress should act to provide the highest possible funding to bridge the gap between incomes and housing costs.

Expand Funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Programs

Funds for CDBG and HOME have remained flat over the past few years, even as community needs grow and costs rise. Tigard’s past CDBG projects include the Tigard Senior Center, Family Promise of Tualatin and Good Neighbor Center facility upgrades; and first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance. Tigard's past HOME projects include Alongside Senior Housing, Red Rock Creek Commons, and Woodland Hearth. Congress should act to invest more into these programs to support infrastructure, housing, and services.

Support the Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Program

The city supports RCE funding with interest in exploring this program in the future. In Tigard, at-grade railroad crossings cause significant traffic flow and safety issues, for cars, trucks, pedestrians and cyclists.

Oppose changes to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

The FEMA Review Council proposed a major shift in FEMA’s disaster relief model toward increased state and local responsibility, higher cost shares, and streamlined processes. This model would significantly reduce FEMA's operational role and restructure it into a smaller coordination‑focused agency. If adopted, the changes could substantially impact local emergency management workloads and response times.

Oppose Cuts to Programs that Support Tigard’s Most Vulnerable Populations

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes changes and cuts to programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, among other programs. The bill could also increase costs for the state of Oregon in a variety of ways and will limit the ways in which the state has traditionally come up with funds to pay non-federal match for Medicaid services, among other negative consequences.