I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 550 
To require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study regarding 
insurance coverage for damages from wildfires, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 16, 2025 
Ms. WATERS (for herself and Mr. SHERMAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To require the Government Accountability Office to conduct 
a study regarding insurance coverage for damages from 
wildfires, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildfire Insurance 
Coverage Study Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. GAO STUDY REGARDING INSURANCE FOR WILDFIRE 
DAMAGE. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States, in consultation with the Director of the Federal 
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Insurance Office and State insurance regulators, shall 
conduct a study to analyze and determine the following: 
(1) RISK ASSESSMENT.—The extent and nature 
of wildfire risk in the United States, including— 
(A) identifying trends in declarations for 
wildfires under the Fire Management Assist-
ance grant program under section 420 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5187), with 
respect to geography, costs, probability, and 
frequency of wildfire disasters; 
(B) identifying mitigation practices that 
would assist in reducing costs and risks for in-
surance 
policies 
covering 
damages 
from 
wildfires; 
(C) identifying existing programs of the 
Federal Government and State governments 
that measure wildfire risk and assess their ef-
fectiveness in forecasting wildfire events and in-
forming wildfire response; and 
(D) analyzing and assessing the need for a 
national map for measuring and quantifying 
wildfire risk. 
(2) EXISTING STATE OF COVERAGE.—With re-
spect to the existing state of homeowners insurance 
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coverage and commercial property insurance cov-
erage for damage from wildfires in the United 
States— 
(A) the extent to which private insurers 
have, during the 10-year period ending on the 
date of the enactment of this Act, adjusted 
rates, policyholder cost-sharing provisions, or 
both for such coverage (after adjusting for in-
flation) and the geographic areas in which ad-
justed rates, policyholder cost-sharing, or both 
have increased; 
(B) the extent to which private insurers 
have, during the 10-year period ending on the 
date of the enactment of this Act, declined to 
renew policies for such coverages and the geo-
graphic areas to which such declinations ap-
plied; 
(C) the events and economic factors that 
have contributed to any such increased rates 
and declinations to renew policies; 
(D) in cases in which private insurers have 
curtailed their overall wildfire exposure, the ex-
tent to which homeowners insurance coverage 
and commercial property coverage were termi-
nated altogether and the extent to which such 
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coverages are still offered but with coverage for 
damage from wildfires excluded; and 
(E) the extent to which, and circumstances 
under which, private insurers are continuing to 
provide coverage for damage from wildfires— 
(i) in general; 
(ii) subject to a condition that mitiga-
tion activities are taken, such as hardening 
of properties and landscaping against 
wildfires, by property owners, State or 
local governments, park or forest authori-
ties, or other land management authorities; 
and 
(iii) subject to any other conditions. 
(3) REGULATORY RESPONSES.—With respect to 
actions taken by State insurance regulatory agencies 
in response to increased premium rates, policyholder 
cost-sharing, or both for coverage for damage from 
wildfires or exclusion of such coverage from home-
owners insurance policies— 
(A) the extent to which States have lever-
aged their respective authorities to regulate rate 
increases; 
(B) the extent to which States have en-
acted any moratoria on such rate and policy-
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holder cost-sharing increases or exclusions and 
on non-renewals; 
(C) the extent to which States require 
homeowners insurance coverage to include cov-
erage for damage from wildfires or make sales 
of homeowners insurance coverage contingent 
on the sale, underwriting, or financing of sepa-
rate wildfire coverage in the State; 
(D) the extent to which States have estab-
lished State residual market insurance entities, 
reinsurance programs, or similar mechanisms 
for coverage of damages from wildfires; 
(E) any other actions States or localities 
have taken in response to increased premium 
rates, policyholder cost-sharing, or both for cov-
erage for damage from wildfires or exclusion of 
such coverage from homeowners policies, includ-
ing forestry and wildfire management policies 
and subsidies for premiums and cost-sharing 
for wildfire coverage; 
(F) the effects of actions taken by States 
on the availability, coverage level, and afford-
ability of homeowners insurance coverage; and 
(G) the effectiveness and sustainability of 
such actions taken by States. 
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