[Senate Report 118-195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                 Calendar No. 441

118th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
   2d Session }                                           { 118-195

======================================================================

                        THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT 
                            EMERGENCIES ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 OF THE

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              TO ACCOMPANY

                               H.R. 6249

          TO PROVIDE FOR A REVIEW AND REPORT ON THE ASSISTANCE
          AND RESOURCES THAT THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE FEDERAL
          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY PROVIDES TO INDIVIDUALS
         WITH DISABILITIES AND THE FAMILIES OF SUCH INDIVIDUALS
      THAT ARE IMPACTED BY MAJOR DISASTERS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES


[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                 July 23, 2024.--Ordered to be printed
                 
                             __________

                      U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
                            WASHINGTON : 2024                    
       
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                  
                 
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
LAPHONZA R. BUTLER, California       ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                      Alan S. Kahn, Chief Counsel
           Naveed Jazayeri, Senior Professional Staff Member
           William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
              Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
                  Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
          Megan M. Krynen, Minority Professional Staff Member
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                                                 Calendar No. 441

118th Congress}                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
   2d Session }                                           { 118-195

======================================================================
 
                THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT EMERGENCIES ACT

                                _______
                                

                 July 23, 2024.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 6249]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 6249) to provide 
for a review and report on the assistance and resources that 
the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
provides to individuals with disabilities and the families of 
such individuals that are impacted by major disasters, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................2
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............3
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............4

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    H.R. 6249, the Think Differently About Emergencies Act, 
would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report 
to Congress on the assistance and resources FEMA provides to 
persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities 
impacted by major disasters. The report must be submitted 
within 120 days of enactment and describe the assistance and 
resources FEMA provides to such individuals. FEMA and GAO must 
each (1) review the assistance and resources, (2) identify 
potential legal impediments to providing such assistance and 
resources, and (3) provide recommendations to Congress on how 
to improve access to assistance and resources.

              II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

    Major disasters often leave communities without basic 
necessities and difficulties accessing these needs are 
compounded when faced by individuals with disabilities.\1\ 
Congress and FEMA have taken some steps to address these 
difficulties by adopting statutory and policy changes to 
improve access for such individuals. For example, the Post-
Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 established the 
Disability Coordinator role within FEMA to ensure the needs of 
individuals with disabilities were met in disaster relief and 
emergency preparedness.\2\ The Office of Disability Integration 
and Coordination was created by FEMA in 2010 to support the 
work of the Disability Coordinator.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Government Accountability Office, FEMA Action Needed to Better 
Support Individuals Who Are Older or Have Disabilities (GAO-19-318) 
(May 2019).
    \2\Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, Pub. L. 
No. 109-295.
    \3\Government Accountability Office, FEMA Action Needed to Better 
Support Individuals Who Are Older or Have Disabilities (GAO-19-318) 
(May 2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2019, GAO reviewed the challenges individuals with 
disabilities faced in accessing assistance and resources FEMA 
provided after the 2017 hurricane season and found that those 
individuals encountered barriers to accessing resources. The 
report found such individuals faced challenges in registering 
for resources and disclosing their disability related needs 
because of unclear application questions. There was also 
limited communication on applicants' disability status between 
FEMA programs. It was concluded these barriers ``may have 
limited'' the assistance individuals with disabilities were 
able to receive.\4\ While the 2019 report focused on access and 
outreach to individuals with disabilities, it did not 
specifically review the resources and assistance available to 
individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Id.
    \5\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To address these issues, the Think Differently About 
Emergencies Act, would require FEMA to report to Congress the 
resources and assistance available to individuals with 
intellectual or developmental disabilities within 120 days of 
enactment. GAO and FEMA will then review the resources and 
assistance and make recommendations to Congress on how to 
improve access to these resources and assistance within one 
year of enactment.

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Representative Marcus Molinaro (R-NY) introduced H.R. 6249, 
the Think Differently About Emergencies Act, on November 6, 
2023, with original cosponsors Representative Dina Titus (D-NV-
1), Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), and Delegate 
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-At Large). The House of 
Representatives considered H.R. 6249 on March 11, 2024, under 
suspension of the rules, and passed the bill by unanimous 
consent.
    The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs. The committee considered 
H.R. 6249 at a business meeting on May 15, 2024. The bill was 
ordered reported favorably by roll call vote of 11 yeas to 0 
nays, with Senators Peters, Carper, Hassan, Rosen, Blumenthal, 
Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, Hawley, and Marshall voting in 
the affirmative, and with Senators Sinema, Ossoff, Butler, and 
Johnson voting yea by proxy, for the record only.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill as the 
``Think Differently About Emergencies Act.''

Section 2. Report to Congress

    Subsection (a) requires the FEMA Administrator, within 120 
days of enactment, to submit to Congress a report describing 
the assistance and resources for individuals with intellectual 
and developmental disabilities FEMA provides to states, 
localities, nonprofit organizations, and directly to 
individuals.
    Subsection (b) states the report shall contain a 
description of the resources and assistance as well as the 
training process for staff providing the assistance, list the 
programs used to help such individuals prepare for and recover 
from disasters, describe outreach activities, and identify 
areas of improvement.

Section 3. Review of assistance and resources

    This section requires the Comptroller General of the U.S. 
and the Administrator of FEMA to review the resources and 
assistance FEMA provides to identify barriers, improve access, 
and make such recommendations to Congress within one year of 
enactment.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

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    H.R. 6249 would require the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to 
review disaster assistance and resources provided by FEMA for 
people with disabilities and their families. The act would 
require FEMA, within 120 days of enactment, to report to the 
Congress on details of that assistance and the process of 
administering it. In addition, the act would require both 
agencies, within one year of enactment, to make recommendations 
to the Congress on how to improve the quality and 
administration of that assistance.
    Using information from FEMA and GAO about the costs of 
similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing the act 
would cost $1 million over the 2024-2029 period; any related 
spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated 
funds.
    On January 12, 2024, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 6249, the Think Differently About Emergencies Act, as 
ordered reported by the House Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure on November 15, 2023. The two pieces of 
legislation are similar, and CBO's estimates of the budgetary 
effects are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Margot Berman. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    This legislation would make no change in existing law, 
within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph 12 of 
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, because this 
legislation would not repeal or amend any provision of current 
law.

                                  [all]