Wildfire Insurance Affordability Act

Sponsor: Jeff Merkley (Democratic-OR)July 23, 2026

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Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Homeowners in wildfire areas could get grants for safety upgrades and help with insurance costs.

This bill would create two new federal programs to help people protect their homes from wildfires and afford insurance. It would set aside money for grants to make homes safer and offer vouchers to low-income families for wildfire insurance premiums. Also, any money received from these programs would not be taxed.

What Would Change

Today, there are no federal programs specifically offering grants for residential wildfire safety upgrades or vouchers for wildfire insurance premiums. If this bill becomes law, federal grants of up to $10,000 per household would be available for wildfire resilience investments, and low-income households could get vouchers for wildfire insurance. Also, these payments would not be counted as taxable income.

Key Provisions

Lets people keep more of their grant or voucher money by not taxing it.
Creates a grant program to help homeowners pay for wildfire safety upgrades, up to $10,000 per household.
Starts a pilot program to give vouchers to low-income families to help pay for wildfire insurance premiums.
Sets aside 25 percent of grant funds based on population, 50 percent based on wildfire risk, and 25 percent based on need in low-income and rural communities.

View on Congress.gov

S 5106 · 119th Congress · July 23, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 8/10

Wildfire Insurance Affordability Act

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity