[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 182 (Monday, December 9, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H6532-H6534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FEMA LOAN INTEREST PAYMENT RELIEF ACT
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 2672) to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide for the authority to
reimburse local governments or electric cooperatives for interest
expenses, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
[[Page H6533]]
H.R. 2672
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 ``FEMA Loan Interest Payment
Relief Act''.
SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT OF INTEREST PAYMENTS RELATED TO PUBLIC
ASSISTANCE.
(a) In General.--Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 431. REIMBURSEMENT OF INTEREST PAYMENTS RELATED TO
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.
``(a) In General.--The President, acting through the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
shall provide financial assistance to a local government or
electric cooperative as reimbursement for qualifying
interest.
``(b) Definitions.--
``(1) In general.--In this section, the following
definitions apply:
``(A) Qualifying interest.--The term `qualifying interest'
means, with respect to a qualifying loan, the lesser of--
``(i) the actual interest paid to a lender for such
qualifying loan; and
``(ii) the interest that would have been paid to a lender
if such qualifying loan had an interest rate equal to the
prime rate most recently published on the Federal Reserve
Statistical Release on selected interest rates.
``(B) Qualifying loan.--The term `qualifying loan' means a
loan--
``(i) obtained by a local government or electric
cooperative; and
``(ii) of which not less than 90 percent of the proceeds
are used to fund activities for which such local government
or electric cooperative receives assistance under this Act
after the date on which such loan is disbursed.
``(2) Local government.--For purposes of this section, the
term `local government' includes the District of Columbia.''.
(b) Rules of Applicability.--
(1) Eligibility.--Any qualifying interest (as such term is
defined in section 431 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as added by this Act)
incurred by a local government or electric cooperative in the
7 years preceding the date of enactment of this Act shall be
treated as eligible for financial assistance for purposes of
such section.
(2) Appropriations.--Only amounts appropriated on or after
the date of enactment of this Act may be made available to
carry out the amendment made by this section.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Louisiana (Mr. Graves) and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana.
General Leave
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2672.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2672, the FEMA Loan Interest Payment Relief Act,
will help reduce the financial burden on local governments and electric
cooperatives that are forced to take out loans to speed up rebuilding
of projects eligible for FEMA assistance.
On top of that, the current requirements for when interest can be
reimbursed are confusing. The legislation clarifies when FEMA can
reimburse the interest that local governments or electric cooperatives
incurred on their disaster loans because they were waiting for Federal
reimbursement from FEMA.
I thank the gentleman from Florida, Dr. Dunn, for his leadership on
this bipartisan legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2672, the legislation authored
by Representatives Dunn and Soto from Florida. This bill clarifies that
FEMA should reimburse local governments and electric co-ops for
interest on disaster recovery loans.
In the aftermath of a disaster, local communities are the first to
mobilize costly recovery efforts, which they often fund with
substantial loans.
It is Congress' intent that FEMA's public assistance program
eventually reimburses these loans. However, the process can be complex
and time-consuming, and the reimbursement policy is often not applied
to local governments and electric co-ops in the same way it is applied
to States.
When communities are working to recover, the last thing that they
need is more uncertainty and additional financial burdens. This
legislation provides much-needed relief by directing FEMA to reimburse
all qualifying interest expenses equally. By doing so, communities on
the front lines of disaster recovery can focus on what truly matters,
rebuilding and restoring lives and homes.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dunn), the author of this legislation.
Mr. DUNN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues
to join me in supporting H.R. 2672, the FEMA Loan Interest Payment
Relief Act.
This bill would incentivize FEMA to provide timely reimbursement to
State and local governments and electrical cooperatives for interest
incurred on Stafford Act disaster-related loans.
Last year, we successfully passed this bill in the House by a large
margin, but the Senate did not take it up.
Currently, State and local municipal officials take out loans to
restore essential services following a natural disaster. However, while
they are waiting for the loans to be reimbursed by FEMA, these loans
incur interest.
Hurricane Michael devastated my district in 2018, and now, 6 years
later, my district is still waiting for FEMA to reimburse these loans.
That is costing my 16 counties millions of dollars in interest alone
that could have been avoided if FEMA had reimbursed them in a timely
fashion.
These are taxpayer dollars that are needlessly tied up by inefficient
agency processing and would be better spent within the communities
themselves.
In light of back-to-back major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, this
year, which brought catastrophic damage and loss of lives to multiple
States, I think time is a valuable commodity.
If FEMA has to reimburse the interest that accrues, as well as the
principal, they will become more sensitive to the timeliness of
reimbursement. I remind my colleagues that the ``E'' in FEMA stands for
``emergency.''
{time} 1515
Mr. Speaker, this bill will not only help my constituents but those
in every single State.
State and local leaders constantly complain about the issue of
delayed FEMA loan reimbursements. H.R. 2672 will incentivize them to
obligate these funds much more expeditiously moving forward.
This, in turn, will ease the burden of accruing interest payments
which cost States and local municipalities tens of millions of dollars
every year.
Most importantly, H.R. 2672 helps support our communities. Interest
paid on these emergency loans is paid by the taxpayers, and the bill
ensures that our State and local partners are not stuck footing the
bill for FEMA's delay.
Mr. Speaker, in September, H.R. 2672 passed the House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure with unanimous consent. I thank
Chairman Graves and the full Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure and General Scott Perry, chairman of the Emergency
Management and Technology Subcommittee, for their consideration and
support of this timely and critical legislation. I urge support for
this bill.
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, local governments and
electrical co-ops should not be penalized for taking out loans to jump-
start disaster recovery for their communities. This bill will direct
the administrator of FEMA to reimburse qualifying interest accrued on
such loans.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to make crystal clear what this does.
In the aftermath of a disaster, you will have a local or State
government
[[Page H6534]]
that will fill out what is called a PW, project worksheet, trying to
get reimbursement for something that is allowed under Federal law under
the Stafford Act. Current law says the FEMA administrator may reimburse
interest costs.
As my good friend from Florida just noted, in some cases there are
bureaucrats working through the paperwork for 10 years. In my home
State of Louisiana, we have unresolved project worksheets dating back
to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. According to my math, that was a long
time ago.
Mr. Speaker, we can't cause the burden of this debt to be undertaken
by the local governments and by State governments. Rather than making
it an option or a discretionary reimbursement, this bill ensures that
the interest costs shall be reimbursable. Then local governments can
borrow money, and there is more of an incentive for FEMA to actually
expedite the approval of these project worksheets.
I think it is a good clarification of law, removing uncertainty for
local and State governments and electric co-ops. They will be able to
rebuild faster after disaster and reduce the costs associated with
delays.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2672, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 2672, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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