Jesse Scheckner
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz is partnering with Tennessee Republican Congressman Tim Burchett on legislation to streamline the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) block grants program for faster disaster aid deployment.
The related bills, titled the Disaster Housing Flexibility Act and Disaster Response Flexibility Act, would allow states to opt into block grants for housing and public assistance after a major disaster declaration.
“By allowing states to deploy this critical disaster assistance through block grants, we can get it to communities in need faster than is done now,” Moskowitz said in a statement.
Moskowitz — a past Florida Emergency Management Director who in December was reportedly being eyed to lead FEMA under President Donald Trump — also re-filed his FEMA Independence Act to restore FEMA to a Cabinet-level agency.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Naples, the current Republican frontrunner for Governor in 2026, co-introduced the measure with Moskowitz.
FEMA today operates under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where bureaucracy is “getting in the way of FEMA fulfilling its core mission,” he said.
“Under DHS, FEMA has become a grant agency that also does emergency management, rather than an emergency management agency that also does grants. To cut red tape and improve FEMA’s effectiveness, we have to get it out of DHS — which my FEMA Independence Act does by reinstating FEMA as a Cabinet agency that reports directly to the President — and we have to get FEMA’s resources closer to the ground faster through block grants.”
The Disaster Housing Flexibility Act and Disaster Response Flexibility Act would create a new block grant program under the Stafford Act, which provides a framework for federal disaster response and recovery.
If passed, the bills would provide that once the President issues a major disaster declaration, states would be able to voluntarily apply for block grants covering housing assistance and public assistance, including debris removal and infrastructure projects.
States that tap into the block grants would not be able to receive other direct public assistance under the Stafford Act for the disaster for which the block grants were provided. But they could request a single adjustment to the block grant sum provided if the initial amount proves insufficient.
Any leftover funds could be used for emergency preparedness or mitigation.
Moskowitz’s office said the bills would also increase spending transparency by requiring each recipient state to submit a plan on how it intends to spend the funds and an annual report on funds spent, funds remaining and an assessment of their impact.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, in turn, would have to tell Congress which states are participating and how the programs and their resources have been implemented.
States that decide not to pursue the block grant funding for housing and public assistance could still receive federal support as it now exists under the Stafford Act. And regardless of whether a state chooses to seek the funds, it would still be eligible for all other FEMA response, recovery and assistance programs.
“FEMA can’t be eliminated,” Moskowitz said. “But we can save it by reforming it.”
