119-hr2364

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2364 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2364

 To provide for a waiver of duplication of benefits for certain 
 assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act as a result of a major disaster or emergency, and for 
 other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 26, 2025

 Mr. Edwards (for himself, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, and Ms. Foxx) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To provide for a waiver of duplication of benefits for certain 
 assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act as a result of a major disaster or emergency, 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 ``Helene Small Business Recovery 
Act''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER OF DUPLICATION OF BENEFITS.

    (a) Waiver of General Prohibition.--

    (1) In general.--The President may waive the general 
 prohibition provided in 

section 312

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

    (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:
        (A) The recommendations of the Administration of 
 the Federal Emergency Management Agency made in 
 consultation with the Federal agency or agencies 
 administering the duplicative program.
        (B) If a wavier is granted, the assistance to be 
 funded is cost effective.
            (C) Equity and good conscience.
            (D) Other matters of public policy considered 
 appropriate by the President.

    (2) Grant or denial of waiver.--A request under paragraph

    (1) shall be granted or denied not later than 45 days after 
 submission of such request.

    (3) Prohibition on determination that loan is a 
 duplication.--Notwithstanding 

section 312
            (c) of the Robert T. 
 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
 U.S.C. 5155
            (c) ), in carrying out paragraph

    (1) , 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.

    (4) Prohibition on income threshold.--In carrying out this 
 subsection, no income threshold may be applied to limit the 
 eligibility of a recipient from qualifying for a waiver.

    (b) Applicability.--Subsection

    (a) shall apply to the provision of 
assistance in response to a major disaster declared by the President 
under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act that occurred in calendar year 2023 or 2024.
 <all>