By Meghan Mertyris, NLIHC Disaster Housing Recovery Analyst
The “FEMA Act of 2025” (H.R. 4669) was introduced by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) on July 24. This bipartisan bill re-envisions a more effective, responsive, and feasible alternative for the agency’s future. NLIHC and its Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) of more than 900 local, state, and national organizations provided reform recommendations prior to the bill’s release—several of which are included in the final text.
“The American people need an emergency management system that works quickly and effectively, not one that makes disaster recovery more difficult. But time and time again, we’ve heard the same story from state and local officials, emergency managers, and disaster victims: the federal process is too slow, complicated, and disconnected from the realities on the ground,” said Chairman Graves in a press release announcing the introduction of the bill. “FEMA is in need of serious reform, and the goal of the ‘FEMA Act of 2025’ is to fix it.”
“Billion-dollar disasters—like the devastating 2021 flooding in Skagit and Whatcom counties—threaten the safety and livelihood of communities in Washington and across America as the severity of disasters increase,” said Ranking Member Larsen in the same press release. “This bipartisan bill will make FEMA stronger and more efficient, giving it the tools it needs to provide relief to disaster-impacted communities like those in my district hit by the 2024 Bomb Cyclone. Thank you to my counterpart, Chairman Sam Graves, for partnering on this bipartisan solution.”
Earlier in May, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members released draft text for the “FEMA Act of 2025.” NLIHC staff and DHRC members are currently analyzing the final bill and comparing it to the draft text. There do not appear to be significant changes regarding FEMA Individual Assistance improvements made in the draft text vs. the final text.
The final text continues to include proposals that would:
- Restore FEMA as an independent agency reporting directly to the president as a cabinet-level agency.
- Make it easier for individuals without a fixed address, like individuals experiencing homelessness, to access post-disaster housing assistance.
- Lengthen the amount of time FEMA can assist disaster-impacted households.
- Create a unified disaster assistance application for all federal disaster assistance programs.
- Direct FEMA to create clear and understandable notices regarding program eligibility.
- Remove penalties for disaster survivors who utilize crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe for disaster expenses.
Several of these proposals have been major policy objectives for the DHRC, and this bill has the potential to become Congress’ primary vehicle to influence the future of FEMA. NLIHC staff and DHRC members will continue to engage with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff as the bill progresses.