[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2341 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2341
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act to waive certain prohibitions on duplication of
benefits, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 25, 2025
Mr. Rouzer (for himself and Mr. Carter of Louisiana) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act to waive certain prohibitions on duplication of
benefits, and for other purposes.
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 ``Duplications of Benefits Victims
Relief Act''.
SEC. 2. DUPLICATION OF BENEFITS.
(a) In General.--
(1) Authority.--Section 312(b) of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5155(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Waiver of general prohibition.--
``(A) In general.--The President may waive the
general prohibition provided in subsection (a) upon
request of a Governor on behalf of the State or on
behalf of a person, business concern, or any other
entity suffering losses as a result of a major disaster
or emergency, if the President finds such waiver is in
the public interest and will not result in waste,
fraud, or abuse. In making this decision, the President
may consider the following:
``(i) The recommendations of the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency made in consultation with the
Federal agency or agencies administering the
duplicative program.
``(ii) If a waiver is granted, the
assistance to be funded is cost effective.
``(iii) Equity and good conscience.
``(iv) Other matters of public policy
considered appropriate by the President.
``(B) Grant or denial of waiver.--A request under
subparagraph (A) shall be granted or denied not later
than 45 days after submission of such request.
``(C) Prohibition on determination that loan is a
duplication.--Notwithstanding subsection (c), in
carrying out subparagraph (A), the President may not
determine that a loan is a duplication of assistance,
provided that all Federal assistance is used toward a
loss suffered as a result of the major disaster or
emergency.
``(D) Prohibition on income threshold.--In carrying
out this paragraph, no income threshold may be applied
to limit the eligibility of a recipient from qualifying
for a waiver under this paragraph.
``(E) Applicability.--This paragraph shall apply to
any major disaster or emergency declared by the
President under section 401 or 501, respectively, on or
after January 1, 2016.''.
(2) Statutory construction.--This subsection, including the
amendment made by paragraph (1), shall not be construed to
apply to section 406 or 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172, 5174).
(3) Report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordination
with other relevant Federal agencies, shall submit to
the congressional committees of jurisdiction a report
conducted by all relevant Federal agencies to improve
the comprehensive delivery of disaster assistance to
individuals following a major disaster or emergency
declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
(B) Contents.--The report required under
subparagraph (A) shall include both administrative
actions taken, or planned to be taken, by the agencies
as well as legislative proposals, where appropriate, of
the following:
(i) Efforts to improve coordination between
the Agency and other relevant Federal agencies
when delivering disaster assistance to
individuals.
(ii) Clarify the sequence of delivery of
disaster assistance to individuals from the
Agency, and other relevant Federal agencies.
(iii) Clarify the interpretation and
implementation of section 312 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5155) when providing
disaster assistance to individuals, including
providing a common interpretation across the
Agency, and other relevant Federal agencies, of
the definitions and requirements under such
section 312.
(iv) Increase the effectiveness of
communication to applicants for assistance
programs for individuals after a disaster
declaration, including the breadth of programs
available and the potential impacts of
utilizing one program versus another.
(C) Report update.--Not later than 4 years after
the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Administrator, in coordination with other relevant
Federal agencies, shall submit to the congressional
committees of jurisdiction an update to the report
required under subparagraph (A).
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