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To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify that utility line technicians qualify as emergency response providers.
Summary
This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify that utility line technicians are included in the definition of emergency response providers. The bill specifically recognizes utility line technicians who respond to major disasters or emergencies declared by the President under the Stafford Act. The amendment broadens the federal definition of emergency response providers to explicitly include utility line technicians. This clarification allows utility line technicians responding to declared disasters and emergencies to be recognized as emergency response providers under federal law. The bill makes a technical amendment to existing emergency response provider definitions in the Homeland Security Act.
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)
- Rep. Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3] (R-LA)
4 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Clay Higgins’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $14,100
- SAFESOURCE DIRECT $10,500
- THE PICARD GROUP $8,300
- WINN CORRECTIONAL $6,666
- PHI, INC. $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Clay Higgins → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Mar 20, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. · house
- Mar 19, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Mar 19, 2026 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.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 19, 2026
Mr. Higgins of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Norcross, and Mr. Bresnahan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify that utility line technicians qualify as emergency response providers.
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 “Linemen Legacy Act”.
SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROVIDERS.
Section 2(6) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(6)) is amended—
(1) by striking “includes Federal” and inserting “includes—
“(A) Federal”;
(2) by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(B) utility line technicians responding to a major disaster or an emergency declared by the President under section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191).”. <all>
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