Counties make the case for FEMA reform on Capitol Hill

Key Takeaways

When disaster strikes, counties are first on the scene – deploying emergency personnel, coordinating evacuations and beginning the long work of rebuilding communities, often before federal help has even arrived. But under the current federal disaster recovery system, counties are also left holding the bill, sometimes for years.

That was the message Jefferson Parish, La. President Cynthia Lee Sheng brought to Capitol Hill on July 15, testifying on behalf of NACo before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at a hearing titled "Reforming FEMA: Ensuring the Nation's Disaster Readiness Works for Americans."

"Disaster response, recovery and mitigation start local, and they end local," Sheng told lawmakers. "However, these efforts would not be possible without continued support from federal programs through FEMA." 

Read Parish President Sheng’s full testimony

A System That Works Against Local Communities 

The core problem Sheng laid out is straightforward: FEMA's Public Assistance (PA) program operates as a reimbursement program, not a grant. Counties pay for disaster response and recovery upfront – out of their own budgets – and then wait years to be paid back. A 2024 NACo survey found that one in five counties reported their longest open PA claim had been in processing for four to six years, and nearly a third reported processing times exceeding six years.

For smaller counties, the burden is compounded by complexity. "For some smaller counties, they just don't have the staff or the expertise to navigate some of these application processes," Sheng said. "When we make it much simpler, I think that will greatly help our local capacity." 

What the FEMA Act Would Do 

Sheng urged Congress to advance the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act (H.R. 4669) – bipartisan legislation that passed the House T&I Committee 57-3 and now awaits a floor vote. The bill would shift Public Assistance from reimbursement to grants, getting recovery dollars to counties upfront; create a universal disaster assistance application to cut duplicative paperwork; reimburse interest on disaster-related loans so counties aren't penalized for acting quickly; and extend procurement parity to counties, treating them the same as states for federal contracting purposes.

"The FEMA Act provides a strong bipartisan framework to modernize the nation's disaster response and recovery system, and Congress should advance its core provisions without delay," Sheng said. 

What's Next

The FEMA Act now needs a full House floor vote. NACo urges county leaders to contact their U.S. Representatives and ask House leadership to bring this critical legislation to the floor without delay.