Story perspectives

FEMA Proposes Higher Threshold, $1.5B Shift; GAO Warns

6/11/2026

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Summary

Story summary

The FEMA Review Council released a report recommending changes, a RAPID grant formula, and disaster-declaration standards.
The proposal would raise the disaster threshold from $1.94 million to $2.99 million, shift $1.5 billion to states and localities, and would have excluded 29 percent of declarations 2012-2025—16 fewer each year.
The GAO warned that under RAPID, lump-sum grants must be spent within eight years, conflict with reconstruction, and FEMA’s staffing shortages could hinder response to disasters.

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Story summary

The FEMA Review Council released a report recommending changes, a RAPID grant formula, and disaster-declaration standards.
The proposal would raise the disaster threshold from $1.94 million to $2.99 million, shift $1.5 billion to states and localities, and would have excluded 29 percent of declarations 2012-2025—16 fewer each year.
The GAO warned that under RAPID, lump-sum grants must be spent within eight years, conflict with reconstruction, and FEMA’s staffing shortages could hinder response to disasters.