NLIHC and its Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) of almost 900 local, state, and national organizations support the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act,” introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Todd Young (R-IN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Al Green (D-TX). The DHRC is currently pushing for inclusion of the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act in year-end legislation that offers the last chance to pass the bill during the current Congress, and we urge all interested organizations to sign on to a letter to Congressional leadership calling for its enactment.
Because the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program is currently unauthorized, HUD must create and publish new rules and regulations each time funds are approved by Congress for the program. This requirement prevents sorely needed long-term recovery funds from reaching disaster survivors quickly. The Reforming Disaster Recovery Act would permanently authorize the CDBG-DR program and direct HUD to codify program requirements, allowing states to anticipate program rules and prepare before disasters strike. The bill would also cement the requirement that funds be used to assist low-income disaster survivors, authorize “quick-release” funding to support state and local capacity in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, and allow HUD to assist disaster-damaged communities without waiting for congressional approval.
Read a fact sheet on the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act at: https://bit.ly/3U6buBZ
Read the text of the bill at: https://bit.ly/36Xkouw
Sign on to the letter at: https://p2a.co/Vj1MkoT