By Matthew Holloway |

Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) introduced legislation this week that would reduce a federal disaster assistance benchmark for counties where less than 15% of the land is subject to county property taxes.

The Rural Disaster Fairness Act of 2026 (H.R. 10754), would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to lower its county per capita damage indicator by 50% for qualifying counties nationwide. The indicator helps FEMA evaluate the local impact of a disaster when reviewing requests for federal assistance.

Crane’s office said counties with extensive federal land ownership can have limited property tax revenue to support infrastructure maintenance, emergency response, and recovery. The congressman argues that a population-based damage benchmark does not adequately reflect those limitations.

“The federal government owns vast swaths of land out West, which limits the tax base for rural counties. In turn, they often have less money to spend on critical infrastructure, mitigation efforts, and response operations. My legislation would reform FEMA’s evaluation process to take into account how much land these jurisdictions are able to tax,” Crane said.

Under FEMA’s existing regulations, the agency considers several factors when recommending whether the president should approve a governor’s request for major disaster assistance.

For its Public Assistance Program, those factors include estimated assistance costs, localized damage, insurance coverage, hazard mitigation efforts, recent disasters, and assistance available through other federal programs.

The regulations expressly recognize that concentrated damage at the county, local, or tribal level can warrant federal assistance even when a statewide per capita indicator is not met. Damage to critical facilities is among the circumstances FEMA considers.

Crane’s proposal would amend Section 1232 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. That existing provision directed FEMA to give greater consideration to severe local impacts or multiple recent disasters when evaluating requests for major disaster declarations.

The county per capita indicator is part of FEMA’s broader evaluation of disaster impacts. Under existing regulations, the agency considers multiple factors when recommending whether federal public assistance is warranted.

Under the Stafford Act’s declaration process, a governor’s request must be based on a determination that a disaster exceeds the capabilities of the state and affected local governments and requires federal assistance. The president makes the major disaster declaration.

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.