Sponsor
David Rouzer
Representative · R-NC
Representative · R-NC
Official title: To authorize the President to provide disaster assistance to States and Indian Tribes under a major disaster recovery program, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 9, 2025 by David Rouzer · Last progress January 9, 2025
The bill expands and speeds direct housing and recovery assistance and forces greater transparency and oversight — improving access and accountability for disaster survivors — but it raises federal costs, adds administrative and compliance burdens, and may tie up funding or shift resources away from community-scale rebuilding.
Homeowners, renters, and low-income disaster survivors will have greater access to direct repair, rebuilding, and longer temporary housing assistance (up to 24 months) so more households can stay or recover in place after a major disaster.
Disaster survivors, local/state officials, and Congress will get much more transparency on FEMA performance (closeouts, denials, appeals, timeliness, inspections), enabling oversight and targeted fixes to speed recovery and reduce administrative barriers.
State and tribal governments and affected communities gain a dedicated Reserve Fund plus upfront grant payments and unmet-needs funding to accelerate rebuilding and recovery projects.
Taxpayers face higher federal costs and greater budgetary pressure because of new set‑asides, expanded eligibility, longer temporary assistance, and higher federal cost‑shares for repeat disasters.
New reporting, certifications, rulemaking, and program requirements impose substantial administrative burden and staff time on FEMA, GAO, federal employees, and grantees, potentially diverting resources from frontline recovery work.
The Reserve Fund set‑asides and six‑year reversion/locked President estimates can tie up Disaster Relief Fund liquidity, complicating budgeting and possibly delaying other disaster programs or reallocation of funds.
Based on analysis of 18 sections of legislative text.
Creates a Disaster Recovery Reserve Fund and expands FEMA unmet-needs, repair, and housing authorities while requiring new reporting and GAO reviews.
Creates a new Natural Disaster Recovery Reserve Fund and expands FEMA authorities to provide unmet-needs grants, limited home repairs, and longer Individual and Households Program support after major disasters. It requires new reporting and audits by the Government Accountability Office (Comptroller General) and FEMA on disaster closeout timelines, unmet needs, program operations, and fiscal controls for grants to states and tribes.