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Fair Disaster Assistance Act of 2025
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure that certain applicants for assistance after a declared major disaster do not receive a notice of denial while the applicant has a pending insurance claim for disaster-related losses, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to issue regulations prohibiting the denial of federal disaster assistance while an applicant's insurance claim for the same damage is still pending. Specifically, FEMA could not send a denial notice to applicants who have indicated they own an insurance policy covering disaster damage to their home or facility, until the insurance company makes a final determination on their claim. The bill applies to disaster assistance provided under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. This requirement aims to prevent applicants from receiving premature FEMA denials before insurance claims are resolved. The regulations would need to be issued by the FEMA Administrator.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
3 cosponsors
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA)
- Rep. Edwards, Chuck [R-NC-11] (R-NC)
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Robert Garcia’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $14,250
- WATERFORD PROPERTY COMPANY $13,200
- SHANGRI-LA INDUSTRIES $9,900
- CURTIN MARITIME $9,900
- LEE ANDREWS GROUP $7,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Robert Garcia → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Feb 10, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. · house
- Feb 10, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Feb 10, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 10, 2025
Mr. Garcia of California (for himself, Mr. Edwards, and Ms. Chu) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure that certain applicants for assistance after a declared major disaster do not receive a notice of denial while the applicant has a pending insurance claim for disaster-related losses, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Fair Disaster Assistance Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE NOTIFICATION BEFORE INSURANCE CLAIM DETERMINATION.
The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall issue such regulations as are necessary to ensure that an applicant for assistance under section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) that has indicated ownership of an insurance policy for a home or facility damaged by a major disaster declared under section 401 of such Act that is owned by such applicant does not receive a notice that indicates a denial of assistance before a final determination has been made regarding the approval or denial of a claim under such policy. <all>
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