H.R. 5395

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5395 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5395

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act to direct the expedient disbursement of funds, and for 
other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 16, 2025

Mr. Hernandez (for himself, Mr. Kennedy of New York, and Mr. Stanton) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act to direct the expedient disbursement of funds, 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 ``Disaster Relief Disbursement 
Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPEDIENT DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.

Title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``SEC. 630. EXPEDIENT DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.

``(a) In General.--The Administrator shall take any actions that 
are necessary to ensure that funds are disbursed to eligible entities 
as expediently as possible after a project is approved under this Act, 
including the hazard mitigation grant program under section 404 and the 
public assistance program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, and 502.
``(b) Report to Administrator.--
``(1) Retroactive report.--For each major disaster or 
emergency for which a declaration was made under section 401 or 
501 and for which assistance is being disbursed as of the date 
of enactment of this section, each recipient of assistance for 
such major disaster or emergency under the hazard mitigation 
grant program under section 404 or the public assistance 
program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, or 502 shall, not 
later than 1 year after such date of enactment, submit to the 
Administrator a report that describes the average amount of 
time the recipient takes to disburse such assistance to a 
subrecipient.
``(2) Annual report.--For each major disaster or emergency 
for which a declaration is made under section 401 or 501 after 
the date of enactment of this section, each recipient of 
assistance for such major disaster or emergency under the 
hazard mitigation grant program under section 404 or the public 
assistance program under sections 403, 406, 407, 428, or 502 
shall submit to the Administrator, on an annual basis, a report 
that describes the average amount of time the recipient takes 
to disburse such assistance to a subrecipient.
``(c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Administrator 
shall submit to the Committees on Homeland Security and Transportation 
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report 
containing a summary of the information provided under subsection 
(b).''.
<all>