House Passes Bill Funding Funerals During Disasters November 23, 2020 Last week Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the FEMA Assistance Relief Act of 2020 (H.R. 8266). This bill includes financial assistance for funeral expenses for any future major disasters declared by the President, something NFDA strongly supports. This bill would also offer funding for funerals during the current COVID-19 disaster. There was some minor debate in the House about new cost sharing between FEMA and the states (FEMA would take on a larger portion of the expenses). This cost sharing could prove problematic when it comes to the Republican-led Senate for two reasons. First, FEMA bears most of the responsibility in the cost sharing split with the states. Second, the Secretary of the Treasury told the Federal Reserve they want all emergency funding programs ended and to return unused money from CARES Act. NFDA will keep you posted as this bill continues to move through Congress.