Sponsors (2)
The bill increases transparency and clarifies which programs count as disaster assistance—helping coordination, oversight, and recovery planning—but does so at the cost of added reporting burdens, agency costs, potential privacy/security risks, and possible ambiguity for claims coordination.
Taxpayers, oversight bodies, researchers, and the public will get standardized, machine-readable quarterly disclosures of federal disaster aid (award amounts and basic award data), improving transparency, enabling audits, and making federal disaster spending easier to track.
State and local officials and community residents will be able to see project-level award details and ZIP-code locations so they can better coordinate recovery, avoid duplicate funding, and track local project status and accountability.
State, local, tribal governments, and nonprofit implementers get clearer definitions of which federal programs and funds count as disaster assistance, making eligibility and compliance easier to determine.
Federal agencies and recipients may face additional administrative and IT costs to collect, standardize, and publish quarterly data, which could divert funds from program delivery or local recovery activities.
Broadening the statutory definitions of ‘‘disaster assistance’’ may expand which entities and programs are subject to new reporting or oversight requirements, increasing compliance burdens for state and local governments and nonprofit implementers.
Treating NFIP coverage as federal disaster assistance could create ambiguity when homeowners coordinate multiple aid sources, potentially complicating claims, delaying payments, or creating overlap/conflict between benefits.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires covered federal agencies to publish quarterly, machine-readable, project-level disaster-assistance data on a public subpage of the federal spending transparency website.
Introduced May 6, 2025 by James Lankford · Last progress May 6, 2025
Requires federal agencies that provide disaster assistance to publish quarterly, machine-readable project-level data on a public subpage of the federal spending transparency website. Agencies must post totals, amounts obligated or expended, and detailed information about each award or project (name, description, completion status, award ID, FEMA catalog number, location including ZIP Code, and any reporting requirements) within 30 days after each quarter ends. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), consulting with Treasury and agency heads, will set up the subpage, issue guidance, and may contract with a private entity (including nonprofits) to build the page. Covered agencies include those providing assistance under the Stafford Act, the Small Business Administration, HUD programs tied to disaster relief, and the National Flood Insurance Program; recipients reported are non-individual entities, including States.