II
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3450
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 11, 2025
Mr. Peters introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To provide authority and reimbursement for State disaster response duty, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Emergency Response Authority Act
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National Guard: Active Guard and Reserve duty in response to a State disaster
In general
Chapter 3 of title 32, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 328 the following new section:
Active Guard and Reserve duty: State disaster response duty
Authority
The chief executive of a State who has declared an emergency in such State due to a disaster, may, with the consent of the Secretary of Defense, order a member of the National Guard of such State, who is performing Active Guard and Reserve duty pursuant to section 328 of this title, to perform duties in response to, or in preparation for, such disaster. Duty performed under this section shall be referred to as State disaster response duty
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Requirements
State disaster response duty performed pursuant to this section—
shall be on a reimbursable basis, in accordance with subsection (c);
may be performed to the extent that the performance of such duty does not interfere with the performance of the member’s primary Active Guard and Reserve duties of organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, and training the reserve components; and
shall not exceed a total of 14 days per member per calendar year, except that the Secretary of Defense may, if the chief executive so requests before the end of the 14th such day, authorize an extension of the duration of such duty, not to exceed an additional—
7 days, if the Secretary determines that such extension is appropriate; and
46 days if the Secretary determines that such duty is in support of the response to a catastrophic incident, as that term is defined in section 501 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 311).
Reimbursement
The Secretary of the military department concerned shall charge a State for the fully burdened costs of manpower for each day of State disaster response duty performed pursuant to this section.
Such charges shall be paid from the funds of the State of the requesting chief executive or from any other non-Federal funds.
Any amounts received by a Secretary of a military department under this section shall be credited, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, to—
the appropriation, fund, or account used to pay such costs; or
an appropriation, fund, or account available for the purposes for which such costs were incurred.
If the State of the requesting chief executive is more than 90 days in arrears in reimbursing the Secretary of the military department concerned for State disaster response duty performed pursuant to this section, such duty may not be performed—
unless authorized by the Secretary of Defense; and
after the requesting chief executive obligates funds for the amount in arrears.
Limitation of liability
While performing State disaster response duty under this section, a member of the National Guard is not an instrumentality of the United States with respect to any act or omission in carrying out such duty. The United States shall not be responsible for any claim or judgment arising from the use of a member of the National Guard under this section.
Definitions
In this section:
The term Active Guard and Reserve duty has the meaning given such term in section 101 of title 10.
The term State has the meaning given such term in section 901 of this title.
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Regulations
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations under section 328a of such title, as added by subsection (a).