The USA’s National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (Nreca) is backing a bipartisan bill aiming to reform Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Introduced in the House of Representatives on 23 July, the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (Fema) Act of 2025 aims to streamline the federal government’s disaster response, which would allow rural electric co-operatives to more quickly access disaster relief funds
The bill would also make Fema, which currently sits within the Department of Homeland Security, a cabinet-level agency directly accountable to the president.
The bill was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Sam Graves (R-MO); Transportation and Infrastructure Committee ranking member Rick Larsen (D-WA); former Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee lead Republican Daniel Webster (R-FL); and Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee ranking member Greg Stanton (D-AZ).
“The American people need an emergency management system that works quickly and effectively, not one that makes disaster recovery more difficult,” said Graves. “But time and time again, we’ve heard the same story from state and local officials, emergency managers, and disaster victims: the federal process is too slow, complicated, and disconnected from the realities on the ground.
Related: USDA updates guidance for electric co-ops applying for funding
“Communities trying to rebuild are forced to navigate a maze of complicated rules, conflicting timelines, and mountains of burdensome paperwork. Fema is in need of serious reform, and the goal of the Fema Act of 2025 is to fix it. This bill does more than any recent reforms to cut through the bureaucracy, streamline programs, provide flexibility, and return Fema to its core purpose of empowering the states to lead and coordinating the federal response when it’s needed.”
“Billion-dollar disasters – like the devastating 2021 flooding in Skagit and Whatcom counties – threaten the safety and livelihood of communities in Washington and across America as the severity of disasters increase,” said Larsen. “This bipartisan bill will make Fema stronger and more efficient, giving it the tools it needs to provide relief to disaster-impacted communities like those in my district hit by the 2024 Bomb Cyclone..”
“As a Floridian, I know first-hand the damage that hurricanes and natural disasters bring, and how important effective preparation, response and relief is when tragedy strikes,” said Rep Webster. “Florida has set the gold standard for disaster mitigation and emergency response, and this legislation builds on that success at the national level. By streamlining Fema and cutting red tape, we ensure that federal disaster response is faster, more efficient, and accountable to the American people.”
“Fema’s mission is to help Americans in their darkest hour. The agency isn’t perfect, and its job is getting harder as disasters grow more frequent and more severe. But the solution is not to tear Fema down – it’s to work across the aisle to build Fema up,” said Stanton. “This bipartisan bill takes common-sense steps to streamline the agency and make sure communities get disaster assistance quickly, efficiently and fairly.”
Under the proposed bill, the Fema administrator would have to reimburse a co-op for emergency within 120 days of submitting a request but the president would have to first determine that at least 90% of estimated costs are eligible for reimbursement.
Co-ops’ longer-term projects to rebuild or replace infrastructure would be reviewed by Fema within 90 days, who would then have have 30 days to disburse the funds for the project.
Will Mitchell, an Nreca legislative affairs director who lobbies Congress on Fema issues, told the apex the bill would be “a huge change in the timeline,”, explaining that most co-ops “are waiting years for reimbursement.”
Nreca CEO Jim Matheson also said the bill would make Fema “a stronger, more responsive agency”.
With the House Committee due to discuss the bill in September, before voting whether to send it to the full House for consideration, Nreca says it will continue to advocate for co-ops, including “a provision to make co-ops eligible to be reimbursed for the interest they must pay on loans to rebuild their systems while they wait to receive disaster funds from Fema”.
The bipartisan bill was introduced following president Trump’s comments about potentially “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, made while on a visit of disaster zones in California and North Carolina in January 2025.
Fema recently attempted to end the $4bn Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, which provides grants for disaster management projects, including strengthening electrical grids. The attempt, which is opposed by 20 Democrat-led states, was blocked by a federal judge in Boston on 5 August. After announcing it would be ending the programme, Fema said in a court filing it was merely evaluating it.
