September 7–13, 2026
A quiet week for passed legislation touching Goodhue County, with all the action this week coming from Washington and nothing yet signed at the state or county level.
A slow week on the local and state fronts. The signed bills this week all came from Congress, and most of them land far from Goodhue County's daily life. One exception worth noting: if you or someone in your family received wildfire relief payments or lost property to a federally declared disaster between late 2019 and early 2027, a new federal law (HR 5366) is now on the books. It lets you deduct the full amount of your uninsured loss, rather than losing $500 off the top under the old rules, and makes any money you received from nonprofits or government to cover wildfire losses tax-free. That applies to any federally declared disaster, so it's worth flagging for a tax preparer if your household was affected. The bill passed both chambers and was signed by the President on Friday, September 11.
Federal transparency. A second bill signed this week (HR 2069) requires federal agencies to post a type of contract that was previously kept off public records onto USAspending.gov, the government's public spending database. These contracts, called "other transaction agreements," have been exempt from standard reporting rules. Now you can look them up the same way you can track a regular federal contract. It's now law.
Several other federal bills signed this week dealt with matters outside Goodhue County: a deadline extension for an EMS memorial in Washington, D.C., and a deed restriction removal on a parcel of Army Reserve land in Paducah, Kentucky.
Coming up next week:
Farm security drill. A federal bill (HR 9394) cleared committee and awaits a full House floor vote. It requires the Department of Homeland Security to run a large-scale preparedness exercise within four years, involving federal, state, local, and private partners practicing a response to a biological attack on farms or food systems. For a county with deep agricultural roots, the drill's findings could shape how state and local agencies respond to any future threat to the food supply. No firm floor date is set yet.
Shelter dogs as federal support animals. HR 9327 also cleared committee and is headed to the full House. It would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to launch a three-year pilot program training adopted shelter dogs to help officers cope with grief and trauma. The dogs would come from local animal shelters.
Government publishing access. HR 9342 is on deck for a House floor vote. It locks in free public access to federal documents through libraries and online, and gives the Government Publishing Office new tools to move older documents online faster. No floor date is confirmed.
Two other federal bills cleared committee this week: one dissolving a congressional records advisory panel while keeping the National Archives in charge of those files (HR 9360), and one transferring federal land in Nevada to state and local governments (HR 2317). Neither has a scheduled floor date, and neither directly affects Goodhue County.
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