NRECA is supporting a new bipartisan bill that would streamline the Federal Emergency Management Agency and speed up delivery of crucial disaster relief funds to electric cooperatives hit hard by hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and other catastrophes.
The Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025 would keep in place FEMA’s essential public assistance program, which provides money to co-ops to restore power and rebuild their systems after natural disasters. Without those funds, NRECA says, rebuilding would take much longer and raise costs sharply for rural communities.
NRECA and its member co-ops have been strong advocates for improving FEMA while keeping the agency intact.
“If this doesn’t pass, it’s going to mean increased costs for our members,” said Michael Callahan, executive vice president and CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi.
The FEMA reform bill would greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for co-ops to receive reimbursements from the agency.
Specifically, it would direct the FEMA administrator to reimburse a co-op for emergency work no later than 120 days after it submits a request. The president would first need to determine that at least 90% of estimated costs are eligible for reimbursement, said Will Mitchell, a NRECA legislative affairs director who lobbies Congress on FEMA issues.
For longer-term projects to rebuild or replace infrastructure, the bill would require FEMA to review within 90 days a co-op’s cost estimate of the work that needs to be done, Mitchell said. After that, the agency would have 30 days to disburse the funds for the project.
Callahan said, in Mississippi, 95% of the weather events the electric co-ops deal with are not FEMA-related. But the 5% that qualify cause huge costs to co-ops for rebuilding and restoration.
“Those kind of events are rare. The storms would have to be catastrophic,” Callahan said.
But Callahan also said FEMA needs to be reformed to make the agency work more efficiently.
“It’s important that there’s a rethink to how FEMA operates,” Callahan said.
Because of Mississippi’s experience with dealing with FEMA and natural disasters, President Donald Trump appointed former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant to the FEMA Review Council. Bryant is the council’s vice chairman. Trump tasked the council with streamlining operations and ensuring FEMA delivers rapid, efficient, and mission-focused relief to Americans in need.
Another big improvement under the legislation is that co-ops would be allowed to build stronger, more resilient systems in the aftermath of disasters rather than being forced by the agency to build everything back exactly as it was before.
NRECA CEO Jim Matheson called FEMA “a crucial partner” in efforts to restore power after disaster strikes. The legislation would remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security and return it to its former status as an independent agency that reports directly to the president.
“Reforming FEMA into a stronger, more responsive agency will help strengthen rural resilience, protect taxpayer dollars and ensure essential services are restored as quickly as possible after a disaster,” Matheson said.
Sponsors from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced the legislation on July 23 — the day the House adjourned for its summer recess. The committee is expected to have hearings on the bill after Congress returns to the nation’s capital in September. The panel will then vote on whether to send it to the full House for consideration.
If passed by the House, the legislation would still need to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by the president. – NRECA
