U.S. Government Affairs

IAEM recently endorsed the Investing in Community Resilience Act (S. 4900), a bill that IAEM members Jonathan Gaddy and Justin Kates had a hand in developing. 

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 included a provision entitled Federal Cost-Share Adjustments for Repair, Restoration, and Replacement of Damaged Facilities (Sec. 20606). Since passage in 2018, neither the Trump or Biden administration has made a move toward implementation, despite repeated urging from all the usual stakeholders. The provision allows the President to provide incentives to grantees to invest in measures that increase readiness for, and resilience from, a major disaster by recognizing those investments through a sliding scale that increases the minimum Federal share.  Implementing the approved language would give states and locals concrete actions to incentivize resilience and empower them to take proactive steps to drive down disaster costs before an incident occurs. The bill amends that original provision by adding to the list of resilience measures that would trigger FEMA being able to increase the federal cost-share from the standard 75% federal cost-share up to 85% for post-disaster public assistance restoration and repair projects.

The bill was drafted and introduced by Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA).  According to her staff, her motivation for introducing this bill was out of concern about the equity of cost share requirements under Section 406(b)(3) of the Budget Act of 2018.

Here is a link to the one-pager.

Here is a link to the bill text.

Here is a link to Senator Butler's press release announcing the introduction of the bill.

IAEM appreciates the time and effort Senator Laphonza's staff put into engaging stakeholders in developing this bill.

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Thad Huguley
Government Affairs Director
IAEM
Falls Church VA
(615) 870-9316
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Thad, to piggyback off of this which may be of interest to folks:

On October 1^st, FEMA published Interim Policy (FP-104-24-002) Public Assistance Mitigation Cost Share Incentives,.  This policy provides a cost share incentive for projects that include mitigation funding and additional incentive for those projects located in communities that have adopted resilient building and electric conservation codes.  The policy is immediately effective for all disasters declared on or after September 26, 2024.

Key in this Interim Policy are the following:

• An increase of 5% of Federal cost share for Public Assistance (PA) permanent work projects which:
• have an eligible Hazard Mitigation Proposal (HMP) which is equal to or greater than 20% of the total eligible repair/ restoration cost of the project at time of obligation.
• An increase of 10% of Federal cost share for PA permanent work projects which:
• have an eligible HMP which is equal to or greater than 20% of the total eligible repair/ restoration cost of the project at time of obligation; AND
• the Applicant has adopted the current 2024 edition or the previous 2021 edition of the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) for commercial buildings or equivalent code or standard, such as ASHRAE Standard 90.1

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Scott Carpenter
FEMA Integration Team (Recovery) - New Hampshire
IAEM Region 1 Maine State Representative
North Berwick ME
(202) 716-3066

Original Message:
Sent: 10-03-2024 12:12
From: Thad Huguley
Subject: Investing in Community Resilience Act - IAEM Endorsement

IAEM recently endorsed the Investing in Community Resilience Act (S. 4900), a bill that IAEM members Jonathan Gaddy and Justin Kates had a hand in developing. 

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 included a provision entitled Federal Cost-Share Adjustments for Repair, Restoration, and Replacement of Damaged Facilities (Sec. 20606). Since passage in 2018, neither the Trump or Biden administration has made a move toward implementation, despite repeated urging from all the usual stakeholders. The provision allows the President to provide incentives to grantees to invest in measures that increase readiness for, and resilience from, a major disaster by recognizing those investments through a sliding scale that increases the minimum Federal share.  Implementing the approved language would give states and locals concrete actions to incentivize resilience and empower them to take proactive steps to drive down disaster costs before an incident occurs. The bill amends that original provision by adding to the list of resilience measures that would trigger FEMA being able to increase the federal cost-share from the standard 75% federal cost-share up to 85% for post-disaster public assistance restoration and repair projects.

The bill was drafted and introduced by Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA).  According to her staff, her motivation for introducing this bill was out of concern about the equity of cost share requirements under Section 406(b)(3) of the Budget Act of 2018.

Here is a link to the one-pager.

Here is a link to the bill text.

Here is a link to Senator Butler's press release announcing the introduction of the bill.

IAEM appreciates the time and effort Senator Laphonza's staff put into engaging stakeholders in developing this bill.

------------------------------
Thad Huguley
Government Affairs Director
IAEM
Falls Church VA
(615) 870-9316
------------------------------

Thanks, Scott.

Last week, while I was at the NEMA conference, I had an opportunity to speak with the executive director of BuildStrong Coalition about the new policy guidance.  She expressed disappointment with the new policy, claiming that it effectively raises the cost share to 80% "without real, meaningful incentives for pre-disaster mitigation."

What are your thoughts?  I welcome feedback from you and anyone else who wants to provide input.

Please note that FEMA has extended the comment period until January 29, 2025, allowing emergency managers and first responders to stay focused on Helene and Milton.

Thad, to piggyback off of this which may be of interest to folks:

On October 1^st, FEMA published Interim Policy (FP-104-24-002) Public Assistance Mitigation Cost Share Incentives,.  This policy provides a cost share incentive for projects that include mitigation funding and additional incentive for those projects located in communities that have adopted resilient building and electric conservation codes.  The policy is immediately effective for all disasters declared on or after September 26, 2024.

Key in this Interim Policy are the following:

• An increase of 5% of Federal cost share for Public Assistance (PA) permanent work projects which:
• have an eligible Hazard Mitigation Proposal (HMP) which is equal to or greater than 20% of the total eligible repair/ restoration cost of the project at time of obligation.
• An increase of 10% of Federal cost share for PA permanent work projects which:
• have an eligible HMP which is equal to or greater than 20% of the total eligible repair/ restoration cost of the project at time of obligation; AND
• the Applicant has adopted the current 2024 edition or the previous 2021 edition of the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) for commercial buildings or equivalent code or standard, such as ASHRAE Standard 90.1

------------------------------
Scott Carpenter
FEMA Integration Team (Recovery) - New Hampshire
IAEM Region 1 Maine State Representative
North Berwick ME
(202) 716-3066

Original Message:
Sent: 10-03-2024 12:12
From: Thad Huguley
Subject: Investing in Community Resilience Act - IAEM Endorsement

IAEM recently endorsed the Investing in Community Resilience Act (S. 4900), a bill that IAEM members Jonathan Gaddy and Justin Kates had a hand in developing. 

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 included a provision entitled Federal Cost-Share Adjustments for Repair, Restoration, and Replacement of Damaged Facilities (Sec. 20606). Since passage in 2018, neither the Trump or Biden administration has made a move toward implementation, despite repeated urging from all the usual stakeholders. The provision allows the President to provide incentives to grantees to invest in measures that increase readiness for, and resilience from, a major disaster by recognizing those investments through a sliding scale that increases the minimum Federal share.  Implementing the approved language would give states and locals concrete actions to incentivize resilience and empower them to take proactive steps to drive down disaster costs before an incident occurs. The bill amends that original provision by adding to the list of resilience measures that would trigger FEMA being able to increase the federal cost-share from the standard 75% federal cost-share up to 85% for post-disaster public assistance restoration and repair projects.

The bill was drafted and introduced by Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA).  According to her staff, her motivation for introducing this bill was out of concern about the equity of cost share requirements under Section 406(b)(3) of the Budget Act of 2018.

Here is a link to the one-pager.

Here is a link to the bill text.

Here is a link to Senator Butler's press release announcing the introduction of the bill.

IAEM appreciates the time and effort Senator Laphonza's staff put into engaging stakeholders in developing this bill.

------------------------------
Thad Huguley
Government Affairs Director
IAEM
Falls Church VA
(615) 870-9316
------------------------------

IAEM recently endorsed the Investing in Community Resilience Act (S. 4900), a bill that IAEM members Jonathan Gaddy and Justin Kates had a hand in developing. 

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 included a provision entitled Federal Cost-Share Adjustments for Repair, Restoration, and Replacement of Damaged Facilities (Sec. 20606). Since passage in 2018, neither the Trump or Biden administration has made a move toward implementation, despite repeated urging from all the usual stakeholders. The provision allows the President to provide incentives to grantees to invest in measures that increase readiness for, and resilience from, a major disaster by recognizing those investments through a sliding scale that increases the minimum Federal share.  Implementing the approved language would give states and locals concrete actions to incentivize resilience and empower them to take proactive steps to drive down disaster costs before an incident occurs. The bill amends that original provision by adding to the list of resilience measures that would trigger FEMA being able to increase the federal cost-share from the standard 75% federal cost-share up to 85% for post-disaster public assistance restoration and repair projects.

The bill was drafted and introduced by Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA).  

Here is a link to the one-pager.

Here is a link to the bill text.

Here is a link to Senator Butler's press release announcing the introduction of the bill.

IAEM appreciates the time and effort Senator Laphonza's staff put into engaging stakeholders in developing this bill.

------------------------------
Thad Huguley
Government Affairs Director
IAEM
Falls Church VA
(615) 870-9316
------------------------------