Disaster Relief Transparency Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3162 To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to submit to the Congress a report that describes the methodology used to allocate amounts appropriated in covered provisions for the Community Develop- ment Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program and the Community Devel- opment Block Grant Mitigation Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 12, 2021 Mr. RICE of South Carolina (for himself, Ms. MACE, Mr. GIMENEZ, and Mr. CARTER of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to submit to the Congress a report that describes the methodology used to allocate amounts appropriated in covered provisions for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program and the Com- munity Development Block Grant Mitigation Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3162.IH H3162 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3162 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Relief Trans- 2 parency Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. HUD REPORT. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Hous- 6 ing and Urban Development, after consultation with the 7 Comptroller General of the United States, shall submit to 8 the Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, and Trans- 9 portation and Infrastructure Committees of the House of 10 Representatives and Banking Committee of the Senate a 11 report that— 12 (1) describes and explains the methodology used 13 by the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- 14 ment to allocate, to States, Tribes, Territories, and 15 local governments, amounts appropriated in covered 16 provisions for the Community Development Block 17 Grant Disaster Recovery Program and the Commu- 18 nity Development Block Grant Mitigation Program; 19 (2) addresses why the such methodology may 20 result in allocations to States, Tribes, Territories, 21 and local governments differing between appropria- 22 tions; and 23 (3) provides legislative and administrative rec- 24 ommendations for improving the consistency and 25 timeliness of the allocation of amounts appropriated 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3162.IH H3162 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3162 IH for the Community Development Block Grant Dis- 1 aster Recovery Program and the Community Devel- 2 opment Block Grant Mitigation Program. 3 (b) COVERED PROVISION.—The term ‘‘covered provi- 4 sion’’ means— 5 (1) Public Law 116–20; 6 (2) the Weather Research and Forecasting In- 7 novation Act of 2017; 8 (3) the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018; 9 (4) the Additional Supplemental Appropriations 10 for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017; 11 (5) the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 12 and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief 13 Requirements Act, 2017; 14 (6) the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017; 15 (7) the Further Continuing and Security Assist- 16 ance Appropriations Act, 2017; 17 (8) the Continuing Appropriations and Military 18 Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agen- 19 cies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response 20 and Preparedness Act; and 21 (9) the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. 22 SEC. 3. FEMA REPORT. 23 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 24 of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3162.IH H3162 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3162 IH Management Agency shall submit to the Committee on 1 Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on 2 Homeland Security and Government Affairs of the Senate 3 a report describing, for each fiscal year beginning after 4 September 30, 2015— 5 (1) the average amount of individual assistance 6 and individual and household assistance provided 7 under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 8 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) 9 to, and the rate of denial of individual assistance 10 and individual and household assistance provided 11 under such Act for— 12 (A) all individuals; 13 (B) all individuals and households; 14 (C) individuals with an annual income 15 under 75 percent of the National Median 16 Household Income; 17 (D) individuals and households with an an- 18 nual income under 75 percent of the National 19 Median Household Income; 20 (E) individuals with an annual income over 21 125 percent of the National Median Household 22 Income; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3162.IH H3162 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3162 IH (F) individuals and households with an an- 1 nual income over 125 percent of the National 2 Median Household Income; 3 (G) individuals with an annual income be- 4 tween 75 percent and 125 percent of the Na- 5 tional Median Household Income; and 6 (H) individuals and households with an an- 7 nual income between 75 percent and 125 per- 8 cent of the National Median Household Income; 9 and 10 (2) an explanation for any factors causing an 11 increase in the rate of denial of individual assistance 12 or individual and household assistance, if applicable. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3162.IH H3162 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS