Disaster Survivors Fairness Act of 2025
Disaster Survivors Fairness Act of 2025 would overhaul how FEMA and other federal disaster agencies handle individual assistance. The bill creates a unified, interagency, web-based disaster application system to share information across FEMA, HUD, SBA, USDA, and potentially other agencies. It sets up a universal application for direct federal disaster assistance to individuals, strengthens information security and privacy protections, and adds transparency tools such as an Individual Assistance Dashboard and online guides for post-disaster resources. The legislation expands repair, hazard mitigation, and direct assistance authorities; introduces a state-managed housing pilot with at least 75% federal funding and added oversight; and includes new reporting requirements and studies (notably on fraud, identity theft, and rental assistance disparities). Overall, the aim is to speed, simplify, and make more equitable access to disaster aid while expanding protections against waste, fraud, and abuse. Key features include a universal application, a centralized data system with strict privacy controls, enhanced rental and housing support (including direct repairs and hazard-mitigation funding), a pilot program for state-administered housing with greater federal share, and new reporting/oversight requirements (GAO) to examine fraud, preliminary damage assessments, and public assistance challenges. The act would apply to new appropriations made after enactment, and it seeks to improve information sharing while preserving privacy and security.
Key Points
- 1Unified disaster application system and universal application for direct federal disaster assistance
- 2- FEMA would establish a web-based interagency system to manage and share disaster assistance information, provide status updates to applicants, allow ongoing updates to applications, and provide access to recovery resources and documentation.
- 3- Data sharing would occur across multiple agencies with privacy protections, and there are specific security and behavior rules to safeguard information.
- 4Expanded and reengineered direct and hazard-mitigation assistance
- 5- Reforms to repair and rebuilding authorities to cover broader damage, plus new hazard-mitigation funds that can be awarded without requiring other funding sources, with limits tied to the damage scale.
- 6- Direct assistance for repairs could be provided when traditional financial assistance is insufficient, including eligible hazard mitigation measures; recipients would not have to show other means of funding except insurance proceeds.
- 7State-managed housing pilot and enhanced cost-sharing
- 8- Establishes a pilot where states or Indian tribes administer housing assistance with a federally supported share not less than 75%, plus explicit criteria transparency and planning requirements (e.g., housing plans, survivor choice of communities).
- 9- Includes programmatic adjustments and a GAO assessment at the end of the pilot to evaluate effectiveness, successes, and challenges.
- 10Accountability, transparency, and consumer protection tools
- 11- Introduction of an Individual Assistance Dashboard publishing aggregate data on applications, approvals, denials, denial reasons, and, where available, income-based breakdowns—without exposing personal identifying information.
- 12- Creation and funding of online guides to post-disaster assistance and resources, managed by state agencies, with coordinated updates and six-month refresh cycles.
- 13Renters and housing affordability focus; sheltering of emergency personnel
- 14- Improved rental assistance language to allow post-disaster rent adjustments and dedicated study on renters’ access and disparities, plus a plan to address identified gaps.
- 15- Authorization for FEMA to reimburse authorities for sheltering emergency response personnel in certain major disasters, with time-limited caps and defined eligibility.
- 16Oversight, reporting, and compliance
- 17- GAO reviews required on identity theft and disaster fraud related to universal applications, preliminary damage assessments, and challenges under public assistance alternative procedures.
- 18- Several reports to Congress required within specific timeframes to assess costs, effectiveness, and equity (including demographic and income-based analyses).