Related Legislation

Legislation Overview

Several bills (a half-dozen or more) have been introduced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to restructure FEMA.  Three dominant proposals – two in the House and one in the Senate – appear to have some momentum but approach the fundamental question of FEMA’s independence differently.  The most likely scenario is that the House will act only if the Senate is able to pass a bill.

In a battle that has more to do with jurisdiction than with what is best for emergency response, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) and the House Homeland Security Committee (HSC) have introduced and marked up competing FEMA reform bills – H.R. 5316 and H.R. 5351.  Each bill would reorganize FEMA but would do so in different ways – T&I would create an independent FEMA outside of DHS, and HSC would keep FEMA inside DHS but give it more independence.  Each bill would authorize appropriations in different amounts for different FEMA and other grant programs, and each bill includes provisions related to workforce issues.  Unable to reach agreement on a consensus bill, the House is stuck.

The Senate appears to be in a better position right now, as Senator Collins has been able to strike a deal with her Senate colleagues and her Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has moved S. 3721, the Collins/Lieberman bill, out of committee.  The Senate bill is closer to the HSC bill and if it passes the Senate, it is possible that the House will take up the Senate-passed bill. 

The most visible part of the Collins/Lieberman bill – renaming and reconstituting FEMA – was adopted by a vote of 87-11 as an amendment to the Senate-passed Homeland Security appropriations bill.  So, even if the Senate does not pass the full complement of reforms in S. 3721, the question of creating a “new” FEMA will be addressed by the Congress as part of the homeland appropriations conference.