September: FEMA Updates, New Legislation, & Blue Books!

September 23, 2025

In this issue:

• FEMA Flood Update and Resources
• New Legislation 
  • Suicide Prevention Bills
  • Kids First Education Bills 
• Sept. 11 Assembly Floor Session 
• Blue Books Have Arrived! 
• New Round of Non-State Grant Program Funding 
• Around the 23rd District 
• Community Events 

Many of our neighbors are still recovering from recent historic flooding. In response Governor Evers requested a major disaster declaration for six counties in Southeastern Wisconsin that were impacted by recent severe storms and flooding. In the late evening on September 11th, the Trump Administration approved the Governor’s request for a major disaster declaration for individuals and households in Milwaukee, Washington, and Waukesha Counties. This assistance is designed to help residents and business owners who sustained significant losses.

Individual Assistance

Residents and business owners in the three designated counties can now begin applying for assistance. Applications can be submitted in the following ways:

• Online: DisasterAssistance.gov
• By phone: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)
  • If you use a video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone (CTS), or other service, provide FEMA with your service number.

Applicants should be prepared to provide:

• Contact information (including email address)
• Address at the time of the disaster and current address
• Social Security number
• General list of damages and losses
• Banking information (for direct deposit)
• Insurance policy number or company name (if insured)

Additional information on the assistance process, including how to upload documents, appeal a decision, or visit Disaster Recovery Centers (to be announced soon), is available at DisasterAssistance.gov. 

Appeals

If you are denied assistance or  you disagree with FEMA’s decision, you may appeal.
·         Online at DisasterAssistance.gov.
·         In person at a Disaster Recovery Centers, which will be announced in coming days.  
·         Or by mail or fax.
 

Public Assistance

On September 17th, Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) and FEMA completed joint Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) for Public Assistance in the counties of Door, Grant, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha.The PDAs validated more than $26.5 million in eligible disaster costs. Public Assistance provides supplemental grants to state, local, and Tribal governments, as well as certain nonprofits, to help communities recover. Grants may provide funding for:

• Restoration of public buildings and equipment (e.g., schools, hospitals, community facilities)
• Restoration of roads and bridges
• Debris removal from public roadways and infrastructure
• Repair of damaged utilities and water systems

This information will be submitted to FEMA to supplement the Governor’s original request. Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding is still pending.

We will continue to share updates as they become available, and feel free to reach out to our office if you need any additional assistance.

On November 5th, 2024, former State Representative and Milwaukee Alderman Jonathan Brostoff died by suicide. Jonathan was a friend, a colleague, and a vocal advocate for mental health services. He served as a member of the 2019 Speakers’ Task Force on Suicide Prevention, where he championed several proposals that may have helped him and others with suicidal ideation.
Losing a friend and legislative colleague creates a new sense of urgency for some of the Task Force proposals that never made it to the Governor’s desk. Firearm suicides among youth have increased by over 50% in the past decade. We know that access to intervention, those critical moments that create time and space between a person in crisis and a firearm, can mean the difference between life and death.

That’s why I joined my colleagues to advance commonsense proposals that focus on suicide prevention. From supporting a voluntary “do not sell” list, to training firearm retailers in suicide prevention, these ideas build on the unfinished work of the Speaker’s Task Force and bring in best practices from other states. You can read my official statement on the legislation here.