WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act of 2025, legislation that allows Americans to exclude any qualified catastrophe mitigation payment made under a state-based catastrophe loss mitigation program from their income tax. The bill would provide needed relief to homeowners after a major flood or hurricane.
“Louisianans understand the impact of devastating storms, but with the help of state and local programs, we have tools to rebuild and return to wholeness,” said Dr. Cassidy. “If communities need tax relief, let’s give it to them!”
“This commonsense legislation takes a critical step toward empowering individuals and communities to better protect themselves from the devastating effects of natural disasters like Hurricane Helene,” said Senator Tillis. “By excluding qualified catastrophe mitigation payments from income tax, we are incentivizing property owners to make the necessary improvements that reduce damage and save lives. This proactive approach to disaster preparedness not only helps families rebuild faster but strengthens our resilience in the face of future disasters.”
“The devastating fires in Southern California underscored the urgent need to empower homeowners to take proactive steps to keep their families and homes safe,” said Senator Padilla. “As these disasters become more frequent and more extreme due to the climate crisis, we should incentivize — not penalize — taxpayers for protecting their homes. That’s why the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act would provide a tax exemption on payments from state-based programs for homeowner investments in critical disaster-related improvements.”
“We have seen how natural disasters have devastated communities around the country, and we must ensure we have the resources and programs in place to respond,” said Senator Schiff. “Homeowners should not face additional taxes for wanting to protect their homes and our bipartisan legislation will provide the needed tax relief to help affected Americans recover from these disasters.”
The bill defines a qualified catastrophe mitigation payment as any amount received for making improvements to an individual’s property for the sole purpose of reducing the damage that would be done to such property by a flood, windstorm, earthquake, or wildfire.
Cassidy, Tillis, Padilla, and Schiff were joined by U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Katie Britt (R-AL), Michael Bennett (D-CO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Ted Budd (R-NC) in cosponsoring the legislation.
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