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Provides temporary Treasury funding so FEMA can continue paying staff and administering grant programs at the start of FY2026 when regular appropriations are not yet in effect. The funding may be used for standard pay, allowances, differentials, benefits, and other regularly payable compensation for FEMA employees doing disaster response under the Stafford Act and for FEMA employees administering non-Stafford federal assistance, and to support administration of all FEMA grant programs. The law is retroactive to February 13, 2026 and ends no later than September 30, 2026 or sooner if FY2026 appropriations are enacted or a subsequent act denies such funding.
The bill keeps FEMA operations, employee pay, and grant disbursements running through appropriations gaps—protecting disaster response and continuity of services—while increasing short‑term federal outlays, complicating budget transparency, and creating funding uncertainty for some recipients when regular appropriations are later enacted.
State and local governments, nonprofits, and disaster-affected communities keep receiving FEMA disaster assistance and other FEMA-administered grants during an appropriations lapse because FEMA can continue administering and disbursing grant funds and programs.
FEMA federal employees continue receiving standard pay and benefits during funding gaps, helping preserve continuity of emergency response operations.
The Act permits charging expenditures during a lapse to be charged back to later appropriations, providing short-term fiscal flexibility that reduces immediate service interruptions.
Taxpayers may face additional short-term Treasury outlays that increase the federal deficit until Congress enacts appropriations to reimburse those charges.
State and local governments, contractors, nonprofits, and the programs they run face funding uncertainty and the risk of sudden termination or disruption if Congress later enacts appropriations that replace or omit these temporary authorities (including in a continuing resolution).
Charging expenditures to later appropriations can complicate agency budget accounting and delay transparency about actual program costs.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Alejandro Padilla · Last progress March 12, 2026