Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1946 To amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the Adminis- trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to waive certain debts owed to the United States related to covered assistance provided to an individual or household, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to waive certain debts owed to the United States related to covered assistance provided to an individual or household, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Disaster 4 Revictimization Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1946.IS S1946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1946 IS SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY. 1 Section 1216(a) of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act 2 of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 5174a(a)) is amended— 3 (1) by amending paragraph (2)(A) to read as 4 follows: 5 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 6 (B), shall— 7 ‘‘(i) waive a debt owed to the United 8 States related to covered assistance pro- 9 vided to an individual or household if the 10 covered assistance was distributed based 11 on an error by the Agency and such debt 12 shall be construed as a hardship; and 13 ‘‘(ii) waive a debt owed to the United 14 States related to covered assistance pro- 15 vided to an individual or household if such 16 assistance is subject to a claim or legal ac- 17 tion, including in accordance with section 18 317 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re- 19 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 20 U.S.C. 5160); and’’; and 21 (2) in paragraph (3)(B)— 22 (A) by striking ‘‘REMOVAL OF’’ and insert- 23 ing ‘‘REPORT ON’’; and 24 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘the author- 25 ity of the Administrator to waive debt under 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1946.IS S1946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1946 IS paragraph (2) shall no longer be effective’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘the Administrator shall report to the 2 Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- 3 ture of the House of Representatives and the 4 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 5 mental Affairs of the Senate actions that the 6 Administrator will take to reduce the error 7 rate’’. 8 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 9 The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- 10 agement Agency shall submit to the Committee on Trans- 11 portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa- 12 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov- 13 ernmental Affairs of the Senate a report containing a de- 14 scription of the internal processes used to make decisions 15 regarding the distribution of covered assistance under sec- 16 tion 1216 of the Disaster Recovery and Reform Act of 17 2018 (42 U.S.C. 5174a) and any changes made to such 18 processes. 19 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 20 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 21 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 22 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 23 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 24 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1946.IS S1946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1946 IS by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 1 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 2 vote on passage. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1946.IS S1946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS