Sponsors (5)
The bill lets state and local governments retain and reuse unused FEMA management funds to strengthen preparedness and increases oversight, but it reduces federal budgeting flexibility and may produce uneven, delayed benefits across jurisdictions.
State and local governments (including rural communities) can keep and reuse unused FEMA management-cost funds for up to five years to fund preparedness, mitigation, or recovery activities — allowing those jurisdictions to invest in readiness that can reduce future disaster recovery costs.
Taxpayers gain greater transparency because the GAO must report historic FEMA management costs, set-asides, and uses, which improves congressional oversight of FEMA spending.
Federal budgeting flexibility could be reduced because excess FEMA management-cost balances are retained by grantees instead of being returned or consolidated, complicating future appropriations decisions and fiscal planning for taxpayers.
Some state and local governments may benefit more than others from retained leftover funds, creating equity concerns and potentially widening disparities between jurisdictions (including rural areas) in preparedness and recovery capacity.
The change only applies to grants funded with appropriations made on or after enactment, so ongoing disasters or currently funded grants won’t benefit and near-term preparedness gaps may remain for some jurisdictions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows unspent authorized disaster management-cost funds to be reallocated to eligible grantees/subgrantees for capacity-building or management-cost purposes, available for five years.
Creates a rule to recapture unspent, authorized disaster management-cost funds at grant close and let FEMA (the President) reallocate those excess funds to eligible grantees and subgrantees for capacity-building and management-cost purposes tied to disaster assistance. Those reallocated funds can be used for activities related to major disasters, emergencies, preparedness, or mitigation and remain available for five years. Requires the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress within 180 days with five years of historical data and analysis on actual management costs, set-asides, uses, disaster lengths, and reasons; no new appropriations are authorized by the change.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Margaret Wood Hassan · Last progress February 27, 2025