Council report synergy with FEMA Act may speed progress
The long-awaited FEMA Review Council report, originally promised last December, was finally shared with the world on May 7 along with an overview presentation, and included both some expected suggestions and some unexpected twists in the way of emergency management overhaul. Once heralded as the end of FEMA as we know it, language surrounding the report has since shifted to reform − a streamlining of federal dollars to enable state-led response, and if implemented, would result in the most significant restructuring of federal disaster funding since FEMA’s inception in 1979.
In moving more responsibility to the states, including direct assistance to survivors, the council members, including our own Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, are focused on weening survivors off of long-term assistance and multiple reimbursements, opting instead for large cash injections to states under a proposed new Section 409 of the Stafford Act. Guthrie shared some of his insights on the report in a LinkedIn post, writing, “This is a significant moment for emergency management at every level,” and imploring the public to read it, engage critically with the massive changes, and provide feedback. Public comments regarding the report are open until Monday, June 8, 2026.
Florida Emergency Management Director and FEMA Review Council Member Kevin Guthrie (right side, center) makes a point during the Council’s May 7 meeting releasing the report.
Among some of the most impactful of the report’s 10 recommendations to insurance interests:
- Elimination of the disaster reimbursement model and in its place, a reformed public assistance program to be called RAPID. It would require cost estimate approvals within 90 days and grant funding availability 30 days after approval, with a new small disaster block grant program where governors can request lump sum payments at 80% of the estimated federal share.
- The RAPID program proposes direct funding to state treasuries within those 30 days of a major disaster declaration using a parametric insurance model. This automatic funding release would be based on objective event criteria such as wind speed, flood depth, or earthquake magnitude.
- Greater focus on emergency, rather than long-term housing, where individual states opt to run their own housing programs in accordance with federal standards.
- Changes to FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which we’ll focus on in our following newsletter story.
The Baker Donelson Comparison Report of FEMA Review Council recommendations and the current FEMA Act legislation (Click to read)
LMA visited Capitol Hill last week and met with several FEMA insiders and federal legislation experts who shared that many of the report’s recommendations will need congressional approval even after being unanimously approved by the council and sent to President Trump’s desk. Our LMA colleagues at the federally connected Baker Donelson law firm have produced this report, which provides an excellent comparison of the Council report’s recommendations with the currently filed Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025 (H.R. 4669) that passed the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last fall. The FEMA Act “provides the natural legislative vehicle to carry many of the Council’s recommendations into law,” Baker Donelson writes. It has a long way to go in getting passed by the House and then in the Senate, but it’s a start.
Four days after the Council report’s release, former interim FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton, who lost his job last year after supporting FEMA’s continued existence, learned he may get his old job back permanently after being nominated by President Trump.
LMA Newsletter of 5-18-26
