Sponsors (2)
The bill maintains FEMA staffing, grant payments, and non-Stafford Act assistance during a funding lapse—protecting disaster response and recovery—but does so at the cost of short-term Treasury outlays, reduced precision of Congressional control over emergency spending, and added accounting/oversight complexity for grantees.
Federal FEMA employees will continue receiving regular pay and benefits during a funding lapse, keeping disaster-response staffing and core operations intact so emergency services remain available.
State and local governments will be able to keep receiving FEMA grants and disbursements during the lapse, allowing ongoing recovery projects to proceed without interruption.
Administration of non-Stafford Act federal assistance (grants and contracts for preparedness and mitigation) stays funded during the lapse, preventing delays to other preparedness, mitigation, and infrastructure programs (including in rural communities).
Taxpayers may face additional short-term Treasury outlays during the funding gap (to be charged back to later appropriations), increasing near-term federal cash flows and fiscal management complexity.
Authorizing 'such sums as may be necessary' for continued operations during the lapse could reduce Congressional control over exact emergency spending levels and oversight of those expenditures.
Keeping FEMA programs running through the lapse could complicate accounting and program oversight for grant recipients and the agency until regular appropriations resume, increasing administrative burden for state and local governments.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Provides temporary FY2026 Treasury funds to pay FEMA personnel and support FEMA grant administration during a lapse in appropriations, with costs charged to later appropriations.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Alejandro Padilla · Last progress March 12, 2026
Provides temporary Treasury funding to keep FEMA staff paid and to support FEMA grant administration during a lapse in FY2026 appropriations. Funds may cover regular wages, allowances, differentials, benefits, and routine payments for FEMA employees carrying out the Stafford Act and other FEMA programs, and FEMA may continue to award or disburse grants; expenditures will be charged to the applicable appropriations once normal funding is enacted. The authority is retroactive to February 13, 2026 and remains in effect only until regular appropriations for these purposes are enacted or September 30, 2026, whichever comes first.