Sens. Peters, Portman, Padilla introduce legislation to improve transparency of federal disaster relief spending

U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced legislation Wednesday that would increase the transparency in what the federal government spends money on when it comes to disasters and emergencies – including pandemics, wildfires, and flooding.

The legislation, the Disclosing All Spending That Ensures Relief Act (DISASTER Act), would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Treasury to provide federal agencies with the guidance they need to track all spending related to disaster and emergency relief, as well as track financial damages from disasters. The legislation would also require the Government Accountability Office to study and recommend how the federal government can improve the clarity and quality of data on USAspending.gov.

“Michiganders and all Americans have a right to know how much natural disasters – that are worsening due to climate change – and other emergencies are costing taxpayers. This information will also be critical to Congress so we can effectively allocate resources to agencies leading the federal response to these events,” Peters said. “This commonsense, bipartisan bill will not only strengthen our federal disaster response but also increase accountability and transparency on how the federal government is working to protect American communities from the growing threat of natural disasters and other emergencies.”

Currently, there is no government-wide requirement to track financial damages and all federal spending related to federal disaster response and recovery efforts. The CARES Act did require some tracking of COVID-19 pandemic relief funds, but the law excluded tracking of disaster-related financial assistance not related to pandemic aid. The senators said the federal government must have policies in place to determine how federal dollars are spent to prepare for any future public health emergencies and extreme weather events.