Bustos “Incredibly Disappointed” By FEMA Denial, Urges Action On Bill To Fix Disaster Calculation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) released the following statement after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied Illinois’ appeal of the agency’s original decision not to award Public Assistance funding to the nine Southern and Central Illinois counties, including Tazewell County, that are rebuilding after deadly tornadoes struck the state on November 17, 2013. Though more than $21 million in federal aid through FEMA’s Individual Assistance program has already been approved to help people and businesses, Public Assistance would have helped local governments cover the repairs or replacement of infrastructure including roads, bridges and public buildings.
“I’m incredibly disappointed by FEMA’s denial of public assistance once again to the Illinois communities devastated by last year’s tornadoes,” said Congresswoman Cheri Bustos. “Having seen firsthand the damage these storms caused, there is no doubt our communities deserve federal relief. To help fix the way FEMA calculates assistance, I’ll continue to work with Democrats and Republicans to build support for my bill that would ensure downstate Illinois receives fair treatment when it comes to qualifying for relief from natural disasters.”
In January, in response to FEMA’s decision to deny the state of Illinois’ request for public assistance, Bustos joined with Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), and Bill Enyart (D-Ill.) to introduce the bipartisan Fairness in Federal Disaster Declaration Act to finally bring fairness to the FEMA disaster declaration process. The bill mirrors legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in 2012, but would also be retroactive to include all storms that occurred in 2013.
In a severe storm or natural disaster, communities in a state like Illinois with a large population – more than 10 million people – must incur a relatively higher level of damage than communities in a state with a smaller population. The Bustos-supported bill would require FEMA to take into consideration local economic factors in order to ensure that communities struck by disaster are not denied federal assistance because of the population of the state.
More information on this bill can be found HERE.