On March 27, Reps. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and Garret Graves (R-La.) introduced the bipartisan Disaster Survivors Fairness Act. NACo sent a letter of support for the bill, which makes critical reforms to ensure federal disaster assistance is more accessible to counties and disaster survivors in our communities.

After a disaster strikes, county residents face an arduous, confusing and often duplicative application process to receive assistance from multiple federal agencies. The Disaster Survivors Fairness Act would simply this process by creating a universal disaster application and require coordination between the agencies who provide disaster assistance. The bill would also enable individuals to receive direct assistance for home repairs and mitigation activities, and would expand the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) ability to fund mitigation projects that make disaster-damaged homes more resilient.

To increase transparency, the legislation would also require FEMA to create a dashboard for county residents to access to monitor their progress in the Individual Assistance application process.

Counties have long supported reforms that will streamline the disaster recovery assistance process. NACo will continue to work with our congressional champions to see Disaster Survivors Fairness Act over the finish line.