Sponsors (20)
The bill increases federal support for animal- and pet-focused disaster preparedness—improving care and response while reducing local purchase costs—but raises federal spending and risks shifting local emergency priorities and ongoing maintenance burdens onto smaller jurisdictions.
Households with companion animals (including rural families) will have better emergency care and sheltering because grants explicitly cover crates, supplies, veterinary items, and field rescue equipment.
State, local, and tribal governments will face lower up-front costs for animal- and pet-related preparedness purchases because the federal share of eligible purchases is increased to 90%, reducing local budget outlays.
Local and state emergency response agencies will likely respond faster and more effectively to disasters affecting animals because grants fund training, animal response teams, and disaster software, reducing animal-related public-health risks.
Taxpayers nationwide may face higher federal spending (and potential budgetary impacts) because the federal cost-share for eligible animal-preparedness purchases is increased to 90% instead of the more typical 50%.
State and local emergency managers may have less flexibility as funds directed toward animal-specific equipment could crowd out other emergency management priorities at the local level if budgets are reallocated.
Smaller jurisdictions and tribal communities may incur ongoing maintenance and operational costs (storage, generator fuel, trailer upkeep) for newly eligible equipment that exceed local budgets after the initial grant purchase.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes EMPG funds for specified pet and companion-animal preparedness uses and raises the federal cost-share for those uses from 50% to 90%.
Official title: To amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 and the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to support emergency preparedness and response efforts for companion animals.
Introduced February 9, 2026 by Brian Jeffrey Mast · Last progress February 9, 2026
Amends the Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) statute to allow states, local, and tribal governments to spend EMPG funds on specific pet and companion-animal emergency preparedness items and activities. For those listed animal-related activities, the federal cost-share is raised from 50% to 90%, making the federal government pay a larger share of those costs. The change adds a new list of allowable uses (including crates, trailers, veterinary supplies, generators, training, animal response teams, and software) and creates a narrow higher federal matching rate that only applies to those enumerated pet-and-companion-animal preparedness activities.