# 119-hr-2254: Don’t Penalize Victims Act

119-hr-2254, Don’t Penalize Victims Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Friedman, Laura [D-CA-30] (D-CA); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-06-13).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2254
- As of: 2026-06-13
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-2254
- Congress: 119
- Title: Don’t Penalize Victims Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-03-21
- Sponsor: Rep. Friedman, Laura [D-CA-30] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 12
- Policy area: Emergency Management
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-06-13

## Summary

**Narrows the duplication-of-benefits rule** in the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. It would remove the phrase 'or any other source,' so the Act's ban on duplicate payments would no longer automatically cover aid from programs outside the Stafford Act.

## Cosponsors (12)

- Rep. Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4] (R-MS), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-9] (D-CA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15] (D-CA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] (D-CA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Torres, Norma J. [D-CA-35] (D-CA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Whitesides, George [D-CA-27] (D-CA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sherman, Brad [D-CA-32] (D-CA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray [D-CA-31] (D-CA), 2025-03-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Obernolte, Jay [R-CA-23] (R-CA), 2025-04-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-04-17T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Less outside aid counted against FEMA help: benefit, medium. If enacted, this would change how FEMA reduces disaster grants. It would remove the words "or any other source" from the duplication-of-benefits rule. That means some outside help you received could no longer be automatically counted against your FEMA aid. Grants for survivors could be cut less as…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act
- 119-hr-1993: 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemorative Coin Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-2254 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2254)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4382)
- [119-hr-1993: 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1993)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2254 (as of 2026-06-13).