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HR5310119th CongressWALLET

Fairness and Accountability of Appeals Act of 2025

Sponsored By: Representative Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4]

Introduced

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.

Show full summary
  • 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.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Disaster aid appeals: fees repaid if you win

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 that case. The bill does not set dollar caps, procedures, or timelines for repayment.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4]

MS • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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