Sponsors (4)
The bill expands and simplifies eligibility and documentation for disaster assistance—helping more renters, informal occupants, and homeowners recover—while trading off higher administrative burden and fraud risk, potential delays or restrictions from cost-effectiveness rules, and tighter control of PAYGO baselines that could politicize budget scoring.
Renters, informal occupants, and homeowners will have easier access to Stafford Act disaster assistance because FEMA can accept common documents (tax receipts, insurance or repair receipts, federal benefit notices), signed statements under penalty of perjury instead of notarization, and a broader "damaged by a major disaster" definition expands which homes qualify.
FEMA and states get more time and flexibility to run pilot grant programs because strict 2-year statutory deadlines for pilot grant administration are removed, which can improve program implementation and reduce rushed rollouts.
Certain housing assistance can be prioritized to cases the President finds cost-effective, which can stretch taxpayer dollars by targeting solutions that deliver more housing per dollar spent.
Allowing signed declarative statements instead of notarization increases the risk of fraudulent or improper claims, which could raise improper payments and taxpayer costs.
Broad, flexible evidence rules and expanded eligibility may increase FEMA's administrative workload and slow determinations, delaying aid to survivors.
Requiring a presidential finding that assistance is cost-effective before certain housing aid is provided could delay or deny urgent housing help for disaster survivors who need immediate assistance.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Requires FEMA to accept varied evidence or sworn statements to prove pre‑disaster ownership and broadens qualifying damage language while conditioning some assistance on cost‑effectiveness.
Official title: To make available necessary disaster assistance for families affected by major disasters, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 15, 2025 by Adriano J. Espaillat · Last progress January 15, 2025
Requires FEMA to accept broader evidence that an individual or household owned and occupied a primary residence before a major disaster when deciding eligibility for certain housing assistance, and expands the definition of dwelling damage that qualifies for assistance. It lets FEMA accept a variety of documents or a signed statement under penalty of perjury when traditional title documents are unavailable, and changes eligibility language in the Stafford Act to focus on housing “damaged by a major disaster” while limiting some assistance to cost‑effective uses. The changes apply to applications and funds received on or after enactment.