The NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) sent a letter on August 8 to congressional leadership to request the quick passage of an emergency disaster supplemental appropriations bill to fund ongoing disaster operations and disaster recovery for current and future 2023 disasters, as well as to permanently authorize HUD’s long-term disaster recovery program by including the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” in the bill.
FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which funds FEMA’s operations, is expected to be depleted by the end of August. At that point, FEMA will begin diverting money from longer-term disaster mitigation and resiliency projects to fund immediate disaster responses. Doing so will allow the agency to respond to disasters but will also result in further delays for communities that have been waiting years for funding for long-term mitigation projects, putting them at greater risk of disaster impacts. The letter submitted by the DHRC – a group comprising more than 900 national, state, and local organizations, including many working directly with disaster-impacted communities and with first-hand experience recovering after disasters – requests that Congress move quickly to fund the DRF to prevent delays in these projects.
HUD’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program provides flexible grants to help states and localities recover from disasters and rebuild affordable housing and other infrastructure. The CDBG-DR program is the only source of long-term recovery funds after major disasters, but because the program has not been permanently authorized, these important funds are often slow to reach disaster survivors. By approving CDBG-DR funding for 2023 disasters via an emergency disaster supplemental appropriations bill as requested by the letter, Congress can ensure these funds are ready and available for ongoing disaster recovery efforts following disasters occurring later in the calendar year. With supplemental funding, disaster-impacted communities and households will not be forced to wait for congressional action before commencing long-term recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, lack of permanent CDBG-DR authorization not only slows the distribution of CDBG-DR funds but also allows for vital disaster recovery resources to be diverted away from those communities and households with the greatest needs following disasters. The bipartisan “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2023” (RDRA) would formally authorize the CDBG-DR program and provide important safeguards to help ensure funds are made quickly available after disasters. The DHRC letter requests the inclusion of the RDRA in any supplemental disaster response appropriations bill, which would ensure all impacted survivors and their communities can fully recover; that communities receive assistance based on their needs; and that the program prioritizes transparency and oversight over how and where funds are being used.
The RDRA has garnered bipartisan support from numerous lawmakers in the Senate, including the bill’s cosponsors: Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Patty Murray (D-WA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Jon Tester (D-MT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Todd Young (R-IN), Cory Booker (D-NJ, and Alex Padilla (D-CA). The bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in both 2019 and 2022.
Read the letter here.