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CIVIC HERALD
HR 153 · 119th Congress · HouseIn committee

Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act

In plain language: The public will gain access to a centralized, searchable website that tracks federal disaster relief money distributed after major emergencies and natural disasters. Every three months, federal agencies like FEMA, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development must post detailed spending data for non-individual recipients such as states, businesses, and local organizations. This allows taxpayers and local communities to look up funded projects by ZIP code, check how much money was spent, and see the completion status of recovery work.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affectednot determinable from the text provided; the bill establishes agency reporting requirements for assistance given to non-individual entities and explicitly excludes individuals from the reporting scope.
Fiscal magnitudenot determinable from the text provided; no specific appropriation or authorization of funding is stated.
Reach25provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Ethics & oversight+32

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Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • The public and researchersGains access to a centralized, machine-readable public database tracking federal disaster assistance spending, specific project details, and progress across communities (Sec. 2(a), 2(b), 2(c)).provisional
  • Private tech contractors and nonprofit organizationsMay enter into agreements or contracts with the Office of Management and Budget to design and develop the public disaster reporting subpage (Sec. 2(e)).provisional

Who it burdens

  • Federal disaster assistance agencies (including FEMA, SBA, and HUD)Must collect, format, and publicly publish machine-readable quarterly data on all disaster aid provided to non-individual recipients, including project descriptions, completion status, funding amounts, and ZIP codes, and must issue implementing guidance (Sec. 2(b), 2(c), 2(d)).provisional
  • Office of Management and BudgetMust establish a dedicated public subpage on USAspending.gov, coordinate data submissions from agencies, and coordinate the issuance of implementation guidance (Sec. 2(a), 2(b), 2(d)).provisional
  • Department of the TreasuryMust consult on the creation of the disaster assistance subpage and coordinate with OMB and disaster agencies to issue implementation guidance (Sec. 2(a), 2(d)).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Directs the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury and disaster-response agencies, to create a dedicated public webpage on USAspending.gov to publish federal disaster assistance spending data.

    Sec. 2(a)provisional
  2. Requires federal disaster-relief agencies (including FEMA, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development) to publicly publish quarterly, machine-readable data detailing all disaster aid provided to businesses, local governments, and other non-individual recipients, including project names, descriptions, ZIP codes, funding amounts, and completion progress.

    Sec. 2(b), (c)provisional
  3. Authorizes the Office of Management and Budget to partner with or hire private companies or nonprofit organizations to develop the disaster-reporting webpage.

    Sec. 2(e)provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Jan 15, 2025Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  2. Jan 14, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  3. Jan 14, 2025On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 426 - 0 (Roll no. 10). (text: 1/13/2025 CR H101-102)
  4. Jan 14, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 426 - 0 (Roll no. 10). (text: 1/13/2025 CR H101-102)
  5. Jan 3, 2025Introduced in House
  6. Jan 3, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 9 days ago

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