Legislation offers protections from clawbacks of assistance to disaster victims

U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Gary Peters (D-MI) recently introduced legislation designed to offer disaster victims protections from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance clawbacks due to agency errors.

The senators commended the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for advancing the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act.

Per the bill, FEMA would be required to waive disaster relief recipients’ debt in cases where the agency later determined it mistakenly granted assistance, but no fraud was committed. It would also require FEMA to detail the number of mistakes made in individual assistance awards and efforts to minimize errors.

“When victims of a disaster apply for assistance in good faith and begin rebuilding their lives, they should not fear that FEMA might claw back the money due to bureaucratic mistakes,” Portman said. “I applaud the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for passing the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act, which will bring peace of mind and stability to victims by ensuring bureaucratic mistakes do not bring more trauma to those recovering from devastating disasters.”

Peters, ranking member and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the last thing Michiganders and Americans hit by a disaster need to worry about is whether federal assistance received from the government might be taken away due to no fault of their own.

“This bipartisan bill helps ensure disaster victims do not face unnecessary hardships at a time when they are most vulnerable, and I look forward to its swift passage in the Senate,” he said.