119-hr2341

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2341 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2341

 To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to waive certain prohibitions on duplication of 
 benefits, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 25, 2025

 Mr. Rouzer (for himself and Mr. Carter of Louisiana) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
 and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to waive certain prohibitions on duplication of 
 benefits, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Duplications of Benefits Victims 
Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. DUPLICATION OF BENEFITS.

    (a) In General.--

    (1) Authority.--

Section 312

    (b) of the Robert T. Stafford 
 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
 5155

    (b) ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (4) Waiver of general prohibition.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--The President may waive the 
 general prohibition provided in subsection

    (a) upon 
 request of a Governor on behalf of the State or on 
 behalf of a person, business concern, or any other 
 entity suffering losses as a result of a major disaster 
 or emergency, if the President finds such waiver is in 
 the public interest and will not result in waste, 
 fraud, or abuse. In making this decision, the President 
 may consider the following:
 ``
            (i) The recommendations of the 
 Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
 Management Agency made in consultation with the 
 Federal agency or agencies administering the 
 duplicative program.
 ``
            (ii) If a waiver is granted, the 
 assistance to be funded is cost effective.
 ``
            (iii) Equity and good conscience.
 ``
            (iv) Other matters of public policy 
 considered appropriate by the President.
 ``
        (B) Grant or denial of waiver.--A request under 
 subparagraph
        (A) shall be granted or denied not later 
 than 45 days after submission of such request.
 ``
            (C) Prohibition on determination that loan is a 
 duplication.--Notwithstanding subsection
            (c) , in 
 carrying out subparagraph
        (A) , the President may not 
 determine that a loan is a duplication of assistance, 
 provided that all Federal assistance is used toward a 
 loss suffered as a result of the major disaster or 
 emergency.
 ``
            (D) Prohibition on income threshold.--In carrying 
 out this paragraph, no income threshold may be applied 
 to limit the eligibility of a recipient from qualifying 
 for a waiver under this paragraph.
 ``
        (E) Applicability.--This paragraph shall apply to 
 any major disaster or emergency declared by the 
 President under 

section 401 or 501, respectively, on or 
 after January 1, 2016.''.

    (2) Statutory construction.--This subsection, including the 
 amendment made by paragraph

    (1) , shall not be construed to 
 apply to 

section 406 or 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172, 5174).

    (3) Report.--
        (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 
 Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordination 
 with other relevant Federal agencies, shall submit to 
 the congressional committees of jurisdiction a report 
 conducted by all relevant Federal agencies to improve 
 the comprehensive delivery of disaster assistance to 
 individuals following a major disaster or emergency 
 declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
        (B) Contents.--The report required under 
 subparagraph
        (A) shall include both administrative 
 actions taken, or planned to be taken, by the agencies 
 as well as legislative proposals, where appropriate, of 
 the following:
            (i) Efforts to improve coordination between 
 the Agency and other relevant Federal agencies 
 when delivering disaster assistance to 
 individuals.
            (ii) Clarify the sequence of delivery of 
 disaster assistance to individuals from the 
 Agency, and other relevant Federal agencies.
            (iii) Clarify the interpretation and 
 implementation of 

section 312 of the Robert T. 
 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5155) when providing 
 disaster assistance to individuals, including 
 providing a common interpretation across the 
 Agency, and other relevant Federal agencies, of 
 the definitions and requirements under such 
 

section 312.
            (iv) Increase the effectiveness of 
 communication to applicants for assistance 
 programs for individuals after a disaster 
 declaration, including the breadth of programs 
 available and the potential impacts of 
 utilizing one program versus another.
            (C) Report update.--Not later than 4 years after 
 the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
 Administrator, in coordination with other relevant 
 Federal agencies, shall submit to the congressional 
 committees of jurisdiction an update to the report 
 required under subparagraph
        (A) .
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