Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act
The Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act would require the Office of Management and Budget, working with the Treasury Department and relevant federal agencies, to create a public subpage on the existing federal spending transparency website for disaster assistance reporting. Covered agencies would have to post quarterly information about disaster aid provided to eligible recipients, including total amounts awarded, amounts expended or obligated, and a detailed list of projects or activities funded. The posted information would need to include project names, descriptions, completion status, award IDs, FEMA disaster catalog numbers, ZIP Code locations, and any other reporting data the agencies collect.
The bill applies to federal disaster assistance administered by agencies under the Stafford Act, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It defines disaster assistance broadly to include FEMA-related aid, SBA disaster loans, HUD disaster recovery and community development funds tied to major disasters, and National Flood Insurance Program coverage. The bill also allows OMB to contract with a private entity, including a nonprofit, if needed to build the transparency subpage, and directs agencies to issue guidance to implement the new reporting requirements.
If enacted, the bill would add a new federal transparency and reporting layer for disaster aid without changing eligibility for assistance itself. It would require covered agencies to standardize and publish quarterly data on disaster-related spending and project-level use of funds, and it would effectively expand public access to information already held by agencies. The measure would affect OMB, Treasury, FEMA-related programs, SBA disaster assistance, HUD disaster recovery programs, and flood insurance-related reporting practices, while also requiring machine-readable data publication.
The available record shows no committee debate, amendments, or recorded votes, so there is no documented opposition or support beyond the bill’s bipartisan sponsorship by Senators Lankford and Hassan. The bill’s title and structure suggest a generally pro-transparency, accountability-focused approach to disaster spending. In the absence of hearing transcripts or votes, the overall sentiment appears neutral to favorable, with the measure framed as an administrative oversight tool rather than a policy change to disaster aid levels.
No specific points of contention are reflected in the provided materials. Potential issues that could arise from the text itself include the administrative burden on agencies, the scope of data to be published, privacy or sensitivity concerns around detailed project-location reporting, and the use of a private entity to develop the website subpage. However, none of these concerns are attributed to any member, agency, or stakeholder in the available record.