[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 18 (Thursday, January 30, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S648-S649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 FAIRNESS IN DISASTER DECLARATIONS ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, this week, Senator Kirk and I introduced 
the Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act. It is designed to 
ensure fairness in FEMA's consideration of whether a community will be 
granted Federal assistance after a disaster.
  This legislation is necessary because the way FEMA evaluates whether 
to declare an area a Federal disaster is not working. It works against 
States with large populations.
  From 2002 to 2012, Illinois was denied Federal disaster assistance 
six times. Texas was denied 11 times--for damage caused by everything 
from wildfires to tropical storms. Florida was denied Federal disaster 
assistance six times during that 10 year period, and California, New 
Jersey, and New York were each denied four times. FEMA's formula does 
not work for large, populous States, particularly those with a 
concentrated urban area, like Illinois.
  It is not enough just to talk about the numbers, though. Each one of 
these disasters devastated communities. In each one of these disasters, 
people saw their homes and their towns destroyed.
  This past November, tornadoes swept through Illinois, killing six 
people and destroying whole towns in my State. The cities of 
Washington, Gifford, and New Minden, IL, experienced some of the worst 
tornado damage I have ever seen. Power lines were down and public 
infrastructure was decimated, but because Illinois did not meet one of 
FEMA's criteria, we were denied Federal public assistance.
  Governor Pat Quinn is going to appeal that denial, and he has Senator 
Kirk's and my full support for that appeal.
  Illinois also was denied Federal disaster assistance after tornadoes 
destroyed the towns of Harrisburg and Ridgway in 2012. Eight people 
died after tornadoes with winds up to 200 miles per hour splintered 
homes, businesses, churches, and public infrastructure in those two 
towns. Nevertheless, the State was denied public assistance. FEMA said 
because Illinois has a large population, we should be able to absorb 
those recovery costs. When similar tornado damage happened in 
neighboring Joplin, MO--which has a smaller population--Federal 
assistance was granted.
  It is not just tornado damage in Illinois that has resulted in 
denials from FEMA for Federal assistance, and it is not just the 
State's per capita that has been used as FEMA's justification for the 
denials. Counties with a high population also have been denied. Last 
April, Illinois experienced major flooding both along the Mississippi 
River and resulting from flash flooding due to major storms.
  Many communities in Cook County, including Chicago and its suburbs, 
experienced unprecedented flooding. But because the damage in Cook 
County did not meet FEMA's per capita requirement, Cook County was 
denied individual assistance. All of the neighboring counties were 
approved. Cook County was denied.
  When questioned about these decisions, FEMA pointed to the factors it 
considers when determining if a Federal declaration is warranted. One 
of these factors has to do with the population of the State. If a State 
has a large population--more than 10 million people--it is analyzed 
differently than if it were smaller. The thinking is that large States 
have the resources necessary to absorb the recovery costs. Well, I can 
tell you--Illinois does not have the resources to absorb the costs of 
these tornadoes and flooding. Whole towns were devastated in these 
disasters.
  The bill Senator Kirk and I introduced assigns a value to each of the 
six factors considered in the disaster declaration analysis. When FEMA 
considers individual assistance--help for people to rebuild their homes 
and pay for temporary housing--it will use the same, consistent 
factors, no matter where the disaster strikes.
  The population of the State will constitute 5 percent of the 
analysis. Consideration of the concentration of damages will be 20 
percent. The amount of trauma to the disaster area will be 20 percent. 
The number of special populations--such as elderly or unemployed 
people--will be 20 percent of the analysis. The amount of voluntary 
assistance in the area will be 10 percent. And the amount of insurance 
coverage for the type of damage incurred will be 20 percent of the 
analysis.
  Our bill also adds a seventh consideration to FEMA's metrics--the 
economics of the area, which will receive 5 percent consideration. This 
includes factors such as the local assessable tax base, the median 
income as it compares to that of the State, and the poverty rate as it 
compares to that of the State. It is reasonable that FEMA should take 
into consideration the size of the State, but as the regulations stand, 
large States are being penalized. Assigning values to the factors will 
ensure that the damage to the specific community weighs more than the 
State's population.
  After the tornadoes hit Harrisburg and Ridgway, the head of the 
Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Jonathon Monken, worked with 
locals and people from the FEMA regional office to determine if the 
State could apply for public assistance--money to help Mayor Gregg and 
others pay for the overtime accrued by all the people working around 
the clock to help the community dig out of the destruction. What 
Director Monken and the others discovered was that it would have been a 
waste of the State's time and resources to even apply for Federal 
public assistance. We did not meet FEMA's threshold.

[[Page S649]]

  Currently, FEMA multiplies the number of people in the State by $1.35 
to determine a threshold of the amount of damage a state would have to 
have incurred to be considered for public assistance. In Illinois, that 
figure is about $17 million. Well, Harrisburg, Ridgway, and the 
surrounding communities had about $5.5 million in public assistance 
damages, and $5.5 million is a lot of loss, particularly in a rural 
area, but not enough to qualify for Federal assistance under FEMA's 
rules.
  In the same way this bill assigns values to the factors FEMA 
considers for individual assistance, it assigns values to the six 
factors the agency considers for public assistance. The per capita 
consideration will be 10 percent of the analysis. Localized impacts of 
the disaster will make up 40 percent of the analysis. The estimated 
cost of the assistance needed will constitute 10 percent of the 
analysis. The insurance coverage in force will be 10 percent. The 
number of recent multiple disasters will be 10 percent. And an analysis 
of the other Federal assistance for the area will make up 10 percent of 
the evaluation.
  The bill also would add a seventh consideration for public 
assistance--the economic circumstances of the affected area--which 
would be considered at 10 percent of the analysis. This would include 
the same information as it would for individual assistance--the local 
assessable tax base, the median income of the area as it compares to 
that of the State, and the poverty rate as it compares to that of the 
State.
  Illinois is a relatively large State, geographically, and has a 
concentrated urban area. The State--particularly downstate--is being 
punished for this fact. If the cities of Washington and Gifford--and 
Harrisburg and Ridgway--do not qualify under FEMA's current criteria 
for federal assistance, something is wrong.
  These towns were struck by category 4 and category 3 tornadoes, 
respectively, and the damage is devastating. The people of these 
communities are being punished for living within a populous State. 
Let's fix the metrics FEMA uses to make this analysis so that they are 
fair to every state.

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