The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Emergency Management, Intergovernmental Relations held a hearing, “One Year Later: Examining the Ongoing Recovery from Hurricane Sandy,” on November 6. The hearing was Senator Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) first hearing since he was sworn into the Senate on October 31. Senator Booker said in his opening remarks “we must increase our sense of urgency to get funding out the door.” Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) said overall the spending of Sandy recovery dollars is going “very well,” the amount of money spent is large, and that he has not seen a large misspending of the money as was feared. Senator Schumer later added that he expects that homeowners who have not yet received recovery money will be “much happier” in the second year of the recovery. In his testimony, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said, “On October 28, I announced $5 billion in additional CDBG-DR grants for the Sandy-affected region, bringing the total CDBG-DR funding available there to $10.4 billion. The first $5.4 billion of these funds was allocated within 8 days of the signing of the Sandy supplemental into law, representing the fastest ever allocation following the signing of a disaster appropriations bill. Using these funds, based on grantee reports to date, we know that more than 26,000 households have already been assisted through CDBG housing programs across the region, with an estimated pay out of more than $157 million to beneficiaries.”Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) asked Secretary Donovan whether he thought that Sandy relief funds should be spent on television ads. Secretary Donovan clarified that Senator Paul was referring to the fact that a number of states that used a small amount of Sandy Disaster Community Development Block Grant (d-CDBG) dollars to create TV ads to encourage tourism and economic development after the storm. Secretary Donovan that the ads were successful in encouraging economic development and lowered recovery costs for the federal government, and fell within the requirements of the (d-CDBG) program. Subcommittee Chair Mark Begich (D-AK) added as a follow up to Senator Paul’s question that the d-CDBG program has limitations and very clear stated purposes. Secretary Donovan concurred, and added that by law d-CDBG funds can only be used for needs not covered by other federal programs.Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) asked if there is any distinction between grants and loans under the duplication of benefits requirements, and if there is any relief available for those who accepted Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, but think they are at a financial disadvantage as compared to homeowners who did not accept loans. Secretary Donovan responded that specific requirements on the use of funds are determined by local communities. Secretary Donovan added that if a small business can afford to repay loans, it would be preferable that the community not make grants to ensure that grant funds are targeted to storm victims that are truly unable to repay a loan.Senators also raised the issue of the implementation of reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program that have led to increased premiums for some homeowners in coastal areas and in flood plains. Senator Booker said that the legislation required an affordability study, and expressed concern that insurance rates have increased before the study was completed. Administrator Fugate and Secretary Donovan acknowledged unintended consequences of the legislation, but also noted that the intent of the legislation to reduce flood risk in the future is worthwhile. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said “we can’t be subsidizing risk at such a low rate that you are increasing our vulnerability.” Secretary Donovan said “we need to act without undermining the important steps forward made in the legislation. Chair Begich said “the legislation wasn’t crafted well, but it was crafted with good intentions and now there are things we are trying to fix.”An archived hearing webcast and all witness testimony are available at: http://1.usa.gov/17eXEi0