Sponsors (64)
Official title: To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to require the President to establish an individual household disaster mitigation program, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 6, 2025 by Michael Thompson · Last progress February 6, 2025
The bill encourages upfront, property‑level disaster mitigation through targeted grants, tax exclusions, and a 30% credit—helping homeowners, farmers, and low‑income households reduce future disaster losses—while imposing fiscal costs, administrative complexity, eligibility limits, and potential future tax consequences for property owners.
Homeowners and building owners can claim a 30% tax credit for qualifying disaster-mitigation work, lowering the after-tax cost of hardening homes and commercial structures.
Homeowners in designated high‑risk/eligible disaster areas can get federal mitigation grants (up to $10,000, CPI‑indexed) that are excluded from taxable income, giving targeted, tax-free assistance for pre-disaster home hardening.
Farmers, agricultural producers, recipients of certain USDA disaster and loss payments, and households receiving specified food-assistance benefits will not have to include those disaster-related payments in gross income, increasing net recovery support and simplifying tax reporting.
Homeowners needing major retrofits (e.g., seismic upgrades, major elevation or structural flood protections) face an insufficient $10,000 grant cap, leaving substantial out-of-pocket costs.
The mitigation grants and credits apply only in designated eligible disaster or high‑risk areas, so many at‑risk households and renters may be ineligible if designation maps are not current or comprehensive.
Making various disaster payments and credits tax‑exempt will modestly reduce federal revenue and, because excluded payments or credits lower a property's tax basis, can increase future capital gains tax or reduce future deductions when owners sell or depreciate property.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes State/tribal grants for household pre-disaster mitigation, excludes certain disaster payments from income, and creates a 30% tax credit for qualifying mitigation expenditures.
Creates a federal Individual Household Disaster Mitigation Program to give grants to States and Tribal governments to pay for qualifying pre-disaster hazard-reduction measures at individual homes in high-risk areas, with per-household caps, income limits, planning requirements, and technical standards. It also makes related changes to the tax code: excludes certain mitigation payments and specified USDA disaster payments from gross income, and creates a 30% tax credit for qualifying disaster mitigation expenditures on real property. The bill sets program rules (eligibility, planning, mitigation standards, advisory committee, review timelines), coordinates with state insurance regulators, limits grants to $10,000 per household (CPI-indexed) and excludes higher-income households, and adds multiple Internal Revenue Code amendments to exclude certain disaster assistance and provide the new mitigation tax credit. Effective dates vary: the program and some tax changes apply after enactment; other tax exclusions apply for taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2025.