Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5953 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 18, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5953.RFS H5953 2 HR 5953 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Disaster 2 Revictimization Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY. 4 Section 1216(a) of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act 5 of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 5174a(a)) is amended— 6 (1) by amending paragraph (2)(A) to read as 7 follows: 8 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 9 (B), shall— 10 ‘‘(i) waive a debt owed to the United 11 States related to covered assistance pro- 12 vided to an individual or household if the 13 covered assistance was distributed based 14 on an error by the Agency and such debt 15 shall be construed as a hardship; and 16 ‘‘(ii) waive a debt owed to the United 17 States related to covered assistance pro- 18 vided to an individual or household if such 19 assistance is subject to a claim or legal ac- 20 tion, including in accordance with section 21 317 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re- 22 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 23 U.S.C. 5160); and’’; and 24 (2) in paragraph (3)(B)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5953.RFS H5953 3 HR 5953 RFS (A) by striking ‘‘REMOVAL OF’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘REPORT ON’’; and 2 (B) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘the authority 3 of the Administrator to waive debt under para- 4 graph (2) shall no longer be effective’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘the Administrator shall report to the 6 Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- 7 ture of the House of Representatives and the 8 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 9 mental Affairs of the Senate actions that the 10 Administrator will take to reduce the error 11 rate’’. 12 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 13 The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- 14 agement Agency shall submit to the Committee on Trans- 15 portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa- 16 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov- 17 ernmental Affairs of the Senate a report containing a de- 18 scription of the internal processes used to make decisions 19 regarding the distribution of covered assistance under sec- 20 tion 1216 of the Disaster Recovery and Reform Act of 21 2018 (42 U.S.C. 5174a) and any changes made to such 22 processes. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5953.RFS H5953 4 HR 5953 RFS SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 1 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 2 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 3 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 4 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 5 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 6 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 7 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 8 vote on passage. 9 Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5953.RFS H5953