FEMA LOAN INTEREST PAYMENT RELIEF ACT

On 2024-12-09, Representative Neal P. Dunn (R-FL-2) delivered a floor speech titled "FEMA LOAN INTEREST PAYMENT RELIEF ACT" in the House. The speech addressed the economy and also covered taxes, trade policy. It referenced legislation: HR2672.

FEMA LOAN INTEREST PAYMENT RELIEF ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 182 (Monday, December 9, 2024) [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

Referenced legislation: HR2672, HR2672