[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5523 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5523

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
   Assistance Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan 
                    program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2002

  Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Israel, Mr. 
Nadler, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Towns, Mr. Engel, Mr. Hinchey, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. 
 Weiner, Mr. Owens, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. McNulty, Mr. King, Ms. Norton, 
 Mr. Moran of Virginia, and Mrs. McCarthy of New York) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
   Assistance Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan 
                    program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community Disaster Loan Equity Act 
of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Major disasters, including disasters caused by 
        terrorist acts, often result in a decline in economic activity 
        in areas affected by the disaster and a reduction in tax 
        collections by State and local governments serving those areas.
            (2) A report of the General Accounting Office entitled 
        ``Review of the Estimates for the Impact of the September 11, 
        2001, Terrorist Attacks on New York Tax Revenues'', dated July 
        26, 2002, estimates that--
                    (A) for fiscal year 2002, tax revenue losses for 
                New York City will be $1,600,000,000 and tax revenue 
                losses for the State of New York will be 
                $1,600,000,000; and
                    (B) for fiscal year 2003, tax revenue losses for 
                New York City will be $1,400,000,000 and tax revenue 
                losses for the State of New York will be 
                $4,200,000,000.
            (3) As a result of the major disaster caused by terrorist 
        attacks of September 11, 2001, the City of New York also 
        experienced substantial additional unreimbursed disaster-
        related expenses of $650,000,000.
            (4) Under the community disaster loan program (in this 
        section referred to as the ``CDL program''), as authorized by 
        the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
        Act, the President may make loans to a local government 
        suffering a substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a 
        result of a major disaster, if the local government 
        demonstrates a need for financial assistance in order to 
        preform its governmental function.
            (5) The President may cancel the repayment of all or any 
        part of a loan made to a local government under the CDL program 
        if revenues following the disaster are insufficient to meet the 
        operating budget of that local government as a result of 
        disaster-related revenue losses and additional unreimbursed 
        disaster-related municipal operating expenses. In the case of a 
        major disaster resulting from a terrorist attack, repayment of 
        interest or principal on a loan made under the CDL program 
        should not be required.
            (6) Assistance made available under the CDL program is 
        often instrumental in aiding the full recovery of a local 
        government following a major disaster.
            (7) The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 established a 
        $5,000,000 limitation on loans made to a local government under 
        the CDL program in connection with a major disaster. Before the 
        date of enactment of such Act, there was not any limitation on 
        the amount of such loans.
            (8) The $5,000,0000 limitation is inequitable when applied 
        to a local government serving a largely populated area, such as 
        New York City, and is inconsistent with the objective of the 
        CDL program to provide meaningful assistance to a local 
        government recovering from a major disaster.

SEC. 3. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS.

    (a) Eligibility of States.--Section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is 
amended by striking ``local government'' each place it appears and 
inserting ``State or local government''.
    (b) Amount.--Section 417(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184(b)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``based on need, shall'' and inserting 
        ``based on need and shall''; and
            (2) by striking ``, and shall not exceed $5,000,000''.
    (c) Major Disasters Caused by Terrorist Attacks.--Section 417 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(e) Major Disasters Caused by Terrorist Attacks.--The President 
shall not require the payment of any interest or principal on a loan 
made under this section to a State or local government which may suffer 
a substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result of a major 
disaster caused by a terrorist attack.''.
    (d) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section shall apply 
with respect to any major disaster occurring on or after October 30, 
2000.
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