The House Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance held a hearing, “Built to Last: Examining Housing Resilience in the Face of Climate Change,” on May 4. The hearing discussed the federal government’s housing-related response to increasing climate change disasters, including flooding, and hurricanes.
In addition to National Flood Insurance Program reforms and the use of renewable energy in housing, the hearing addressed this year’s forthcoming version of the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” sponsored by Representative Al Green (D-TX) and Ann Wagner (R-MO). The bill would permanently authorize and reform the CDBG-Disaster Recovery Program (CDBG-DR), the federal government’s primary mechanism for funding long-term housing recovery after disasters. That program is not formally authorized, meaning that each time money is approved by Congress under the program, HUD must publish new federal regulations and program requirements. The lack of formal authorization also prevents states from anticipating and tailoring their plans for the funds ahead of disasters. As a result, these badly needed funds often take years to reach disaster survivors, making it even more difficult for them to fully recover. The bill was unanimously passed by the House Committee on Financial Services last year.
Ariadna M. Godreau-Aubert, CEO of Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, a partner of NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition, testified on the importance of CDBG-DR authorization, and how the lack of formal regulations for the program made Puerto Rico’s recovery from 2017’s Hurricane Maria longer and more difficult. In her testimony, Ms. Godreau-Aubert emphasized that the lack of permanent authorization allowed important funds to be used in ways that served to displace disaster survivors and exclude certain hurricane survivors from receiving funds. By authorizing the program, not only would the money get to areas of need more quickly, but the use of the funds would be used in more equitable ways. “We need disaster assistance to arrive quickly,” said Ms. Godreau-Aubert. “We need guidelines to ensure coherent planning, equitable access to funds, displacement minimization, and participation. Disaster assistance should not be a blind bet on possible outcomes, but a strategy towards sustainable recovery.”
Watch a recording of the hearing at: https://bit.ly/3nX0SG6
Read Ariadna Godreau-Aubert’s written testimony at: https://bit.ly/3xVyx7N
Read the House version of the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act at: https://bit.ly/3vHgzUK