As you might have read about in the front-page article, several members of Colorado’s congressional delegation have introduced legislation — the Disaster Declaration Transparency Act of 2026 — that “would allow Congress to override a Presidential denial of federal disaster relief funding and create a new fast-track process to ensure states like Colorado are not left without support.”
The bill was introduced in part due to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) denial of Colorado’s major disaster declarations relating to 2025 disasters, which included our area’s historic flooding and fires elsewhere in the state.
According to the legislators who introduced the bill, “Both events met the statutory and practical criteria for a Major Disaster Declaration as well as FEMA’s fiscal threshold to warrant federal aid.”
The bill was introduced by Colorado U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper together with U.S. Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi, Joe Neguse and Brittney Pettersen.
With the bill, the legislators aim to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and give Congress a way to respond when a president denies a governor’s request for a major disaster declaration.
“If a president rejects a request in certain cases, such as when FEMA recommends approval or when past decisions support approval, the president must notify Congress within 24 hours and provide a written explanation,” a press release introducing the bill explains. “After that, members of Congress can introduce a simple joint resolution within a set number of days that directs the president to approve the disaster declaration. The bill also sets up fast-track procedures in both the House and Senate to ensure a timely vote.”
While we’ve only begun digging into the bill and we question whether or not such a bill can make it through the entire process and be signed into law with the current political atmosphere, we’re hopeful that legislation like this could help other communities, and possibly our own, ensure help is received when it’s needed in the future.
Thankfully, funding is being found to help repair damage to lessen the immediate dangers related to the flooding throughout our community, but local officials have made it clear other fixes can’t be done so quickly and will take place over several years as funding allows.
We just hope more disasters don’t compound the damage before funding allows.
Politics everywhere, including here in the United States, typically swing like a pendulum, and measures that could help make future decisions more clear-cut, fact-based and potentially less prone to the likes and dislikes of whoever is in office when a disaster happens are positives in our book.
As Neguse said via the press release, “When natural disasters strike — from wildfires to flash floods — the federal government must rise to the occasion and assist our communities. Natural disasters don’t discriminate based on state or political affiliation — and neither should the federal government.”
We don’t know definitively why our disaster declarations were denied while others have been approved, but something like this bill could help take some of the guess work out of the equation in the future for those needing help.
Randi Pierce
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