Sponsors (4)
This bill broadens and speeds federal waivers to allow more disaster aid to reach affected states, families, and businesses—but increases federal costs and raises risks of inconsistent, politicized, or wasteful awards while limiting the change to disasters in 2023–2024.
State governments, homeowners, and small-business owners can receive additional federal disaster aid even when existing duplication rules would otherwise block help, expanding access to recovery funding.
State and local governments and homeowners get faster decisions on waiver requests because the President must approve or deny within 45 days, reducing delays in recovery funding.
Low-income individuals and homeowners can benefit from more targeted use of limited federal funds because the law allows consideration of cost‑effectiveness and equity when granting waivers.
Taxpayers may face higher federal disaster spending and larger deficits or reduced funding for other programs because expanded waiver authority permits more federal aid.
State and local governments and applicants could face inconsistent or politicized waiver decisions because the President may consider broad, vague 'other matters of public policy.'
Taxpayers are exposed to greater risk of waste, fraud, or abuse if duplication rules are relaxed without stronger oversight, potentially reducing the effectiveness of disaster dollars.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows the President to waive the Stafford Act duplication-of-benefits prohibition for disasters in 2023–2024 on a Governor's request, with a 45-day decision deadline and limits on exclusions.
Allows the President to waive the Stafford Act rule that normally prevents duplicative federal disaster assistance when a Governor requests it for a state or on behalf of an affected person, business, or other entity for certain major disaster or emergency declarations. The President must decide within 45 days, must find the waiver is in the public interest and will not cause waste, fraud, or abuse, and may consider FEMA recommendations, cost-effectiveness, equity, and good conscience; loans used for disaster losses may not be treated as duplicative assistance, and income thresholds cannot be applied to limit eligibility. The waiver authority applies only to major disaster declarations in calendar years 2023 and 2024.
Introduced March 26, 2025 by Chuck Edwards · Last progress March 26, 2025