Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination ActThis bill requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to streamline disaster information collection, convene a working group on preliminary damage assessments, and provide a report to Congress.FEMA must (1) conduct a study and develop a plan under which the collection of information from disaster assistance applicants and grantees will be made less burdensome, duplicative, and time consuming for applicants and grantees; and (2) develop a plan for the regular collection and reporting of information on federal disaster assistance awarded.Additionally, not later than two years after enactment of the bill, FEMA must convene a working group on a regular basis to (1) identify potential areas of duplication or fragmentation in preliminary damage assessments after disaster declarations; (2) determine the applicability of having one federal agency make the assessments for all agencies; and (3) identify potential emerging technologies, such as unmanned aircraft systems (i.e., drones), to expedite the administration of preliminary damage assessments.FEMA must submit a comprehensive report on the plans for streamlining and consolidating information collection and the findings and recommendations of the working group to Congress with a briefing. The report must be made available to the public and posted on FEMA's website.
Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act This bill establishes a centralized location to publish information on disaster assistance provided by federal agencies. The Small Business Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and any agencies providing disaster assistance must make available to the public on a quarterly basis information regarding (1) the total amount of assistance provided by the agency; (2) the amount provided that was expended or obligated; and (3) all projects or activities for which assistance was expended, obligated, or used.
Natural Disaster Recovery Program Act of 2025This bill establishes Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding sources for unmet needs caused by major disasters, expands FEMA’s assistance for housing and home repair, and requires certain considerations in FEMA’s recommendations on presidential emergency/disaster declarations.The bill establishes the National Disaster Recovery Reserve Fund for FEMA to provide grants to states and Indian tribal governments for unmet need. The bill defines unmet need as any necessary expense for activities related to a declared major disaster, including disaster relief or resilience activities. In addition, the bill authorizes FEMA to set aside funding from the Disaster Relief Fund to provide grants to states and Indian tribal governments for unmet needs resulting from a declared disaster, including home repair, economic recovery measures, and other services assisting disaster victims. Also, the bill makes the following changes regarding housing assistance:authorizes FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) to provide home repair assistance directly to homeowners when there is a lack of available housing resources, expands IHP home repair assistance for persons with disabilities, extends the maximum duration of IHP’s direct housing assistance from 18 to 24 months,authorizes IHP permanent housing construction where FEMA considers it a cost-effective alternative, and authorizes minor home repairs in the essential assistance federal agencies may provide following a disaster. Additionally, the bill requires FEMA to give greater weight to local impacts, and events over the past five years, when making recommendations to the President regarding emergency or major disaster declarations.
No Subsidies for Wealthy Universities ActThis bill limits the indirect costs that are allowable under federal research awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) with endowments above specified thresholds. (Generally, indirect costs represent expenses that are not specific to a research project but are needed to maintain the infrastructure and administrative support for federally funded research.)Specifically, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) must annually collect information regarding the endowments of each IHE that has entered into a program participation agreement with the Department of Education.With this collected information, NCES must identify and make lists of (1) each IHE with an endowment of more than $5 billion, and (2) each IHE with an endowment of more than $2 billion (but not more than $5 billion). NCES must submit these lists to the Office of Management and Budget, which must then distribute the lists to federal agencies, Congress, and the public.The bill establishes the following limits on the indirect costs allowable under federal research awards:for an IHE with an endowment of more than $5 billion, the IHE is prohibited from using these awards for indirect costs;for an IHE with an endowment of more than $2 billion (but not more than $5 billion), the IHE is limited to an indirect cost rate of 8%; andfor all other IHEs, an indirect cost rate of 15%.The Government Accountability Office must annually report to Congress on indirect cost reimbursement on federal research awards for IHEs.
Wildfire Recovery Act This bill makes changes with respect to the federal cost share for Fire Management Assistance Grants and provides that the federal share shall be not less than 75% of the eligible cost. Specifically, the bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct and complete a rulemaking to provide criteria for the circumstances under which FEMA may recommend that the President increase the federal cost share. Such criteria shall include a threshold metric that assesses the financial impact to a state or local government from responding to a fire for which fire management assistance is being provided.
Emergency and Disaster Preparedness for Farm Animals Act This bill requires producers to develop disaster preparedness plans that include adverse weather plans to be eligible for livestock indemnity payments and emergency loans due to adverse weather under certain agricultural disaster assistance programs.
Chance to Compete Act of 2023 This bill modifies examination requirements and other components of the federal hiring process for positions in the competitive service. Specifically, the bill provides that a qualifying examination includes a résumé review that is conducted by a subject matter expert. Additionally, beginning two years after the bill's enactment, the bill prohibits examinations from consisting solely of a self-assessment from an automated examination, a résumé review that is not conducted by a subject matter expert, or any other method of assessing an applicant's experience or education. Agencies may use subject matter experts to develop position-specific technical assessments that allow applicants to demonstrate job-related skills, abilities, and knowledge; assessments may include structured interviews, work-related exercises, procedures to measure career-related qualifications and interests, or other similar assessments. The bill also allows agencies to establish talent teams to support and improve hiring practices. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must create online platforms through which agencies may share and customize technical assessments and share the résumés of qualifying applicants. The OPM must also create online platforms with information about the types of assessments used and hiring outcomes.
The HCT/P Modernization Act of 2025This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide information to stakeholders and report on the regulation of human cell and tissue products, also referred to as human cells, tissues, or cellular or tissue-based products (HCT/Ps), which are articles containing or consisting of human cells or tissues that are intended for use in a human recipient.The bill requires the FDA to conduct workshops to educate stakeholders and facilitate discussion with them on advancing the science and regulation of human cell and tissue products. The FDA must establish a public docket to receive written comments on this topic, and submit to Congress a report with recommendations on regulating these products. Additionally, the bill requires the FDA to publish on its website educational materials about the Tissue Reference Group and best practices for obtaining a recommendation about products from them. Also, annually for three years, the FDA must publish on its website information on the inquiries submitted and average response times for the Tissue Reference Group, as well as the number of human cell and tissue manufacturers that have registered with the FDA and the number of inspections the FDA has conducted with respect to these manufacturers since 2019. (The Tissue Reference Group is a working group within the FDA that receives product-specific questions from, and provides recommendations for, stakeholders on the regulation of human cell and tissue products under the FDA’s rules.)
This bill allows a deduction from gross income (above the line deduction) for attorney fees and court costs awarded with respect to a qualifying wildfire disaster (i.e., any forest or range fire that is a federally declared disaster, occurs in a disaster area, and occurs in 2015 or later). The bill excludes from the gross income of a taxpayer, for income tax purposes, amounts paid to compensate victims for losses or damages in connection with a qualifying wildfire disaster.
Protecting Homeowners from Disaster Act of 2025 This bill repeals the limit on the itemized tax deduction for unreimbursed personal casualty losses. Specifically, the bill repeals a provision that generally limits the deduction for tax years 2018-2025 to losses that are attributable to a federally declared disaster. The bill applies to losses sustained after 2024.