# 119-hr-5310: Fairness and Accountability of Appeals Act of 2025

119-hr-5310, Fairness and Accountability of Appeals Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4] (R-MS); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5310
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-5310
- Congress: 119
- Title: Fairness and Accountability of Appeals Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-09-11
- Sponsor: Rep. Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4] (R-MS)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Emergency Management
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Reimburses attorney fees when disaster aid applicants win appeals.** This bill would add a new subsection to Section 423 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act that requires the Administrator to reimburse an applicant's attorney fees for appeals under subsection (a) or arbitrations under subsection (d) when the applicant receives a favorable decision. - Families and applicants: Lowers the financial barrier to challenging disaster aid denials by making prevailing applicants eligible for reimbursement of attorney fees. - The Administrator and federal programs: Creates an open-ended reimbursement obligation with no caps, funding source, or procedural rules specified in the text. - Legal representation and cost risk: Shifts the risk of paying attorney fees from applicants to the Administrator by enabling fee recovery for successful appeals and arbitrations.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Disaster aid appeals: fees repaid if you win: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Administrator under the Stafford Act would repay your attorney fees if you win an appeal or an arbitration over a disaster aid decision. This would only apply if you asked for the appeal or arbitration and then receive a favorable decision. It would cover attorney fees related to th…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-4275: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-5310 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5310)

## Related
- [119-hr-4275: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4275)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-137)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-471)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5310 (as of 2026-04-21).