Disaster Declaration Transparency Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4433 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4433 To provide for a procedure for Congress to carry out a reversal of a decision by the President not to declare a major disaster requested by the Governor of a State under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 29, 2026 Mr. Bennet (for himself and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To provide for a procedure for Congress to carry out a reversal of a decision by the President not to declare a major disaster requested by the Governor of a State under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Disaster Declaration Transparency Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. PROCESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL REVERSAL OF REFUSAL TO DECLARE MAJOR DISASTER. Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(d) Notification to Congress.-- ``(1) Covered refusal.--In this subsection, the term `covered refusal' means an instance in which-- ``(A) the Governor of a State requests a declaration by the President of a major disaster under subsection (a); and ``(B) the President declines to declare such a major disaster-- ``(i) contrary to a recommendation provided by the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; or ``(ii) based on a recommendation by the Administrator of the Federal Emergency