(BIVN) – The Reforming Disaster Recovery Act, authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D, Hawaiʻi), was passed by the United States Senate on Monday.
The lawmakers voted 85 to 5 in favor of the bipartisan package, establishing a permanent and predictable funding process at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in order to help communities recover from major disasters more quickly.
“Right now, each time a disaster happens, communities in crisis are forced to wait for Congress to pass a disaster funding bill before HUD can help,” said Senator Schatz in a news release. “Our provision changes the law so they no longer have to wait. As soon as a disaster strikes, HUD will be able to help communities begin the process of recovery.”
According to the office of Senator Schatz, the provision will accelerate assistance to disaster-impacted communities by:
- Creating a disaster recovery fund to allow HUD to predictably assist communities;
- Authorizing HUD to issue regulations to codify program requirements and reduce unnecessary red tape, delays, and unpredictability that stems from the current process;
- Supporting resilience as a part of – rather than separate from – disaster recovery;
- Authorizing “quick release” funds to support grantee capacity right after an event;
- Improving federal coordination by establishing an office at HUD devoted to disaster recovery and resilience; and
- Reducing unnecessary administrative burdens and interagency requirement conflicts.
