The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently unveiled its “Policy Action Agenda” for 2026, which offers legislative recommendations Congress and regulatory recommendations to the Trump Administration regarding the collective priorities of state departments of transportation for the calendar year.
[Above image by AASHTO]
This resource is intended to support consistent messaging for the visits by state DOT executives to Capitol Hill and the U.S. Department of Transportation later this month as part of the 2026 AASHTO Washington Briefing conference.
In addition to topical issues, key elements of these recommendations are based on a set of reauthorization policy resolutions adopted by AASHTO’s Board of Directors at the organization’s 2025 Spring Meeting in Hartford, CT.
Those policy resolutions concern safety; funding, finance, and innovation; project delivery; the federal-aid highway program; public transportation; and rail transportation.
Under its legislative recommendations to Congress, AASHTO is offering three specific requests:
- Pass a five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill on time by October 1, starting with current funding levels adjusted for inflation, and based on user-pay principles for all vehicles.
- Incorporate AASHTO’s Core Policy Principles for reauthorization, which include prioritization of formula-based funding, increased flexibility and reduced program burdens, and supporting innovation and technology for state DOTs.
- Pass a full-year transportation appropriations bill as soon as practicable to provide the entire fiscal 2026-year obligation limitation to state DOTs.
Under regulatory recommendations to the Trump Administration, AASHTO offers four specific requests:
- Reduce barriers and improve coordination on access to railroad rights-of-way and assets to reduce transportation project costs and delays.
- Improve execution of “Build America, Buy America” rules, including for manufactured products in the post-general waiver transition.
- Fully honor all discretionary grants awarded and obligated to states.
- Expand the programs and approvals administered across the U.S. Department of Transportation that can be assumed by states.
To read the full Policy Action Agenda, click here.
