RECENT PUBLIC POLICY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Public and Private Sector Investment Drives Growth in IBHS’s Solutions  

2025 was a record-setting year for adoption of IBHS’s science and programs across the country, with two new states establishing FORTIFIED state grant programs, New Mexico establishing the first ever state grant program for Wildfire Prepared, and three additional Federal Home Loan Banks joining the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas in incentivizing FORTIFIED in their affordable housing grant programs. IBHS and its partners have helped secure millions in additional public and private sector investment in resilient construction and retrofits, with the potential to transform communities across the U.S. 

In all, new grant funding, tax incentives, and insurance price considerations are now available to property owners across 13 new states to obtain a FORTIFIED Roof. And the Wildfire Prepared program is taking center stage in legislation throughout 5 Western States. 

A few highlights from the year to date: 

• Arkansas and Maine established new FORTIFIED roof grant programs via legislation. 

• Louisiana and South Carolina increased funding for existing FORTIFIED grant programs. 

• New tax incentives in Louisiana include a $10,000 tax deduction or credit for FORTIFIED retrofits and exempts FORTIFIED grants from a grant recipient’s taxable income when determining their state income tax obligation.  

• New Mexico passed the first grant program for Wildfire Prepared Home retrofits. 

• Georgia passed a bill allowing for creation of catastrophe savings accounts that can be used in the wake of declared disasters or emergencies and catastrophic windstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, hailstorms, earthquakes, ice storms, and floods. 

• Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and Federal Home Loan Banks of Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas, and Topeka now have new incentives for affordable FORTIFIED housing developments. 

• Community Development Block Grant –Disaster Recovery federal grants administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will be used to rebuild to the Wildfire Prepared and FORTIFIED standards in California and Florida, respectively. 

• California established a grant program, modeled after Strengthen Alabama Homes, to help homeowners retrofit their properties for wildfire. Oregon and Washington established legislative study groups to develop recommendations for reducing wildfire risk, with Wildfire Prepared as a guiding standard. 

• IBHS had a central role in wildfire legislation in Colorado that requires insurers to either provide more transparent wildfire risk models or discounts for wildfire mitigation actions. 

In 2026, IBHS will continue to build on this momentum to create even more survivable and insurable communities. To achieve this, we will focus on expanding the following at the state level: 

• Catastrophe savings accounts to help homeowners save for post-disaster recovery as well as proactive resilience retrofits 

• Income tax credits to incentivize resilient retrofits 

• Grant and revolving loan programs to put FORTIFIED and Wildfire Prepared financially within reach for even more property owners 

• Stronger building codes that more closely align to modern building codes and IBHS’s construction standards 

• Private sector investment to support resilient construction and retrofits across the country 

We do not and cannot do this work alone—IBHS collaborates with national insurance trade associations (NAMIC, APCIA, and RAA), many state and regional trade associations (notably, RMIIA and PIF), and the government affairs teams of our Members. Contact IBHS General Counsel Michael Newman at mnewman@ibhs.org to get involved.