In states like Texas, we know the seriousness that natural disasters must be treated with. Without preparation and plans in place for before, during, and after weather systems such as hurricanes, flash floods, and windstorms, the magnitude of devastation can be overwhelming.
This is why it is critical to make the flow of disaster recovery funds operate as quickly as possible and have the public informed and confident in where to find this critical help. However, there are current hurdles in Washington D.C. that are keeping this money from efficiently getting into the households that need it because HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program is not permanently authorized. As of now, CDBG-DR funds are only made available through special congressional approval, which unfortunately is not always guaranteed to happen quickly, if at all.
This is what the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act (S.1686/H.R.5940) aims to fix. The bipartisan bill would permanently authorize the CDBG-DR program, providing flexible grants to help presidentially-declared disaster areas rebuild affordable housing and other infrastructure, and make critical reforms to ensure a more efficient and equitable disaster recovery. Ultimately, it would make disaster recovery funds flow faster, more efficiently, more equitably and adds a layer of accountability to taxpayers.
In our major coastal cities like Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur, and the Rio Grande Valley, we know all too well that time is of the essence when it comes to Disaster Recovery. Rebuilding back after a disaster can be slow, but it is much slower for low-income communities who do not have the personal income to supplement what the government cannot provide instantly, such as emergency housing or immediate repair needs. This is why we must build upon what is proven, and ensure the channels to deliver disaster relief funding are wide open and lightning quick.
In addition to codifying the CDBG-DR program in statute, the bill contains critical reforms to help ensure a more efficient and equitable disaster recovery and mitigate future risks by:
- Requiring that the use of funds are balanced between infrastructure and housing;
- Ensuring that housing funds are spent proportionally between homeowners and
renters; - Requiring HUD to release information on disaster recovery to the public –
disaggregated by income, race, geography and all protected classes of individuals
under federal civil rights and nondiscrimination laws; - Requiring federal agencies to share all data to improve coordination of the disaster
recovery process, as well as increase oversight and data transparency; - Authorizing the creation of a CDBG-DR Reserve Fund that can quickly disperse
initial recovery funding post-disaster without waiting for a new congressional action; - Developing a formula to allocate assistance to the most impacted areas;
- Maintaining the current requirement that 70% of the funds benefit Low and Moderate
Income households; - Creating a capacity building and technical assistance set-aside for grantees;
- Ensuring that state action plans receive at least 14 days for public comment and requiring states to engage with stakeholders in the impacted areas;
- Promoting disaster mitigation and resiliency by establishing an Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilient Communities at HUD;
- Creating a significant set-aside for disaster mitigation activities; and
- Creating specific minimum construction standards for areas designated as hazard
prone by HUD and FEMA.
CDBG-DR funds can be used to transform our communities and rebuild even better than before. But we can’t achieve this at a stagnant pace. Delays hurt everyone and hit Black, Latino, and Indigenous people, low-income communities, and immigrants with the fewest resources to rebuild particularly hard. With the increasing frequency of hurricanes and flooding, we need Congress to establish a better way for communities to access the funding they need quickly. This is why the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act is so important in a critical time in our nation’s history. As the only source for federal long-term recovery funds, CDBG-DR can fill this gap in assistance and ensure every disaster survivor and their communities are able to fully and equitably recover.
To help gain momentum in the current and next congress, our federal partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) have drafted a national support letter for the RDRA to convince congressional leadership to move the bill forward as part of any and all upcoming bipartisan legislative packages.
If you are a member of an organization that would like to sign on to this letter, please follow the link below and share with your networks today!
Sign here: https://p2a.co/vj1mkot
Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser.
Reach out to Meghan Mertyris from NLIHC at mmertyris@nlihc.org with any questions about this letter and more on the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act.
