Fema Loan Interest Payment Relief Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DUNN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2672, the FEMA Loan Interest Payment Relief Act.

This bill would incentivize FEMA to provide timely reimbursement to State and local governments and electrical cooperatives for interest incurred on Stafford Act disaster-related loans.

Last year, we successfully passed this bill in the House by a large margin, but the Senate did not take it up.

Currently, State and local municipal officials take out loans to restore essential services following a natural disaster. However, while they are waiting for the loans to be reimbursed by FEMA, these loans incur interest.

Hurricane Michael devastated my district in 2018, and now, 6 years later, my district is still waiting for FEMA to reimburse these loans. That is costing my 16 counties millions of dollars in interest alone that could have been avoided if FEMA had reimbursed them in a timely fashion.

These are taxpayer dollars that are needlessly tied up by inefficient agency processing and would be better spent within the communities themselves.

In light of back-to-back major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, this year, which brought catastrophic damage and loss of lives to multiple States, I think time is a valuable commodity.

If FEMA has to reimburse the interest that accrues, as well as the principal, they will become more sensitive to the timeliness of reimbursement. I remind my colleagues that the ``E'' in FEMA stands for ``emergency.''

Mr. Speaker, this bill will not only help my constituents but those in every single State.

State and local leaders constantly complain about the issue of delayed FEMA loan reimbursements. H.R. 2672 will incentivize them to obligate these funds much more expeditiously moving forward.

This, in turn, will ease the burden of accruing interest payments which cost States and local municipalities tens of millions of dollars every year.

Most importantly, H.R. 2672 helps support our communities. Interest paid on these emergency loans is paid by the taxpayers, and the bill ensures that our State and local partners are not stuck footing the bill for FEMA's delay.

Mr. Speaker, in September, H.R. 2672 passed the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with unanimous consent. I thank Chairman Graves and the full Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and General Scott Perry, chairman of the Emergency Management and Technology Subcommittee, for their consideration and support of this timely and critical legislation. I urge support for this bill.

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