DHS must now listen to cities and states on security grants

What it does

This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to improve how it communicates with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments about two major grant programs—the Urban Area Security Initiative and the State Homeland Security Grant Program. Specifically, DHS must conduct annual surveys to gather feedback from these stakeholders, publish summaries of that feedback and how it was used, and establish other feedback mechanisms. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to review DHS's outreach efforts within two years and DHS to report on its actions within three years.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is mandating stakeholder feedback, public reporting, and independent review of federal grant administration—classic transparency and accountability tools. It does not create new funding, change eligibility, or alter grant amounts; it improves how existing programs communicate with and respond to the communities they serve.

What the text implies

• The bill does not mandate that DHS actually change its grant-awarding practices based on feedback—only that it collect feedback, report it, and explain how it was incorporated. This creates a transparency obligation but not a binding requirement to alter decisions.
• Annual surveys and reporting requirements will impose administrative costs on DHS and state/local governments, though the bill does not appropriate funds to support these activities.
• The GAO review and DHS report create a two-to-three-year window before any external accountability mechanism reports back to Congress, limiting near-term pressure for change.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill increases transparency and accountability in how federal homeland security grants are awarded to state and local governments, which ultimately serve citizens. By mandating stakeholder feedback, public reporting of that feedback, and independent review, the bill creates mechanisms for ordinary people and their elected representatives to understand and influence how federal security funding reaches their communities.

Named in the bill

Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Urban Area Security Initiative, State Homeland Security Grant Program, Government Accountability Office, House Committee on Homeland Security, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Where it stands

3 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Jun 20, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jun 20, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Homeland Security and Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology”
• Jun 25, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jun 25, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote”
• Nov 19, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 380 - 45…”
• Nov 19, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Guest moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $70,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 42 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Dan Goldman, the sponsor, reported $407,029 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• International Association of Fire Chiefs — $70,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.