By Oliver Porter, NLIHC DHR Intern
On January 23, the White House issued an executive order extending the tenure of the FEMA Review Council so that the council will serve until March 25, 2026. The review council’s executive mandate was established last January and would have expired on January 24 had it not been for this new executive order. This extension prolongs widespread uncertainty over FEMA’s future. The council’s final report has been anticipated for weeks because of its potential to significantly shape agency policy. A final meeting for the council was supposed to take place in mid-December, but it was canceled abruptly.
Given the current absence of public meetings or public-facing publications, it is difficult to ascertain the ultimate impacts of the review council’s work. However, multiple drafts of the council’s final report have been examined by journalists over the past couple of months, offering some insights into the report’s content.
Last Wednesday, it was revealed that the report includes a proposal to change FEMA’s public assistance disaster aid program so that payments are provided based on criteria related to the type of disaster, rather than through damage assessments performed by the agency. The proposal would give states aid if they can demonstrate that certain meteorological or other conditions associated with intense damage occurred. The proposal bears resemblance to a type of insurance known as parametric insurance, where parameters are agreed to in an insurance policy and compensation is awarded to the affected party based on whether specific extreme weather events occurred.
The proposal suggests releasing aid to states within 30 days of a presidential declaration of emergency if specific weather parameters occur. It would also change the minimum percentage of disaster recovery costs that the federal government must reimburse states for from the current, and statutorily mandated, 75% down to 50%, leaving states to pay the other half unless they can show that they previously pursued enough disaster-preparedness policies to qualify for a full 75% reimbursement. The copy of the report also projects possible staffing cuts to half of FEMA’s workforce over two to three years.
This proposal obtained by reporters represents just one possible recommendation from the review council. The Disaster Housing Recovery team at NLIHC will continue to update members about new developments related to FEMA as they unfold. The strongest way to protect and reform the agency remains congressional action. NLIHC’s organizational sign-on letter for the bipartisan “FEMA Act” remains available here.