President Biden Signs Assistant Leader Neguse's Bill to Cut Red Tape & Streamline Access to Federal Disaster Aid Into Law
Washington, D.C. — Last week, President Joe Biden signed Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse’s Disaster Assistance Deadlines Alignment Act into law. The bipartisan bill merges the application deadlines for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) program and Individuals and Households Program (IHP), helping to streamline access to critical federal assistance for families and households impacted by disaster. The proposal was championed by Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Rand Paul (R-KY).
“From the Marshall Fire in 2021 to the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome Fires in 2020, folks across Colorado have experienced the consequences of devastating wildfires. The enactment of our bill, the Disaster Assistance Deadlines Alignment Act, will help cut through red tape to ensure our families can more easily access critical disaster assistance programming. I am proud to see President Biden act swiftly to sign this bill into law,” said Congressman Neguse.
A press release issued by the White House stated, “On Monday, March 18, 2024, the President signed into law...the ‘Disaster Assistance Deadlines Alignment Act,’ which aligns the application deadline for the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program with the application deadline for assistance under the Individuals and Households program. Thank you to Senators Peters, Rubio and Paul, and Representative Neguse, for their leadership.”
This is the third bill Congressman Neguse has successfully had signed into law this Congress (118th), making him the member of the Colorado federal delegation from either political party, with the most bills signed into law this Congress. In December, President Biden enacted his bills – the Mental Health for Military Families Act and Federal Data Center Enhancement Act – as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24).
Background
Congressman Joe Neguse has been leading efforts in Congress to improve federal disaster assistance for communities impacted by natural disasters. Most recently, he led Western lawmakers in a letter to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) requesting the agency extend the time periods during which affected individuals may apply for SBA physical damage loans following a presidential disaster declaration.
He has also fought to secure proper cost coverage for Coloradans impacted by the Marshall Fire. Alongside Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, Rep. Neguse led a successful effort to get the SBA to update their formula used to calculate the Disaster Loan Program amount survivors can borrow to rebuild after the Marshall Fire.Rep. Neguse and the Colorado senators were also able to get FEMA to agree to cover the costs of removing foundations, basements and burned vehicles damaged in the Marshall Fire. This coverage is extremely rare and has only been granted for a handful of other wildfires in recent years.
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