Community Disaster Loan Equity Act of 2005 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to make community disaster loans to state governments. Eliminates the $5 million limit on such a loan, and prohibits the President from requiring its repayment, if the state or local government receiving it may suffer a substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result of a major disaster determined to be an incident of national significance.
Applies this Act to any major disaster occurring on or after August 24, 2005.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4012 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4012
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan
program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 7, 2005
Mrs. Maloney (for herself, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Melancon, Mr. Grijalva,
Mr. Serrano, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Meeks of New York, and Ms. DeLauro)
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 modify the terms of the community disaster loan
program, 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 ``Community Disaster Loan Equity Act
of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Major disasters, including natural disasters and
disasters caused by terrorist acts, often result in a decline
in economic activity in areas affected by the disaster and a
reduction in tax collections by State and local governments
serving those areas.
(2) A report of the Government Accountability Office
entitled ``September 11: Recent Estimates of Fiscal Impact of
2001 Terrorist Attack on New York'', dated March 2005,
confirmed prior estimates that--
(A) New York City lost between $2,500,000,000 and
$2,900,000,000 in tax revenues for fiscal years 2002
and 2003; and
(B) the State of New York lost $2,900,000,000 for
fiscal years 2002 and 2003.
(3) The impact of Hurricane Katrina on State and local tax
revenues is not yet known, but the impact is believed to be
extensive.
(4) Under the community disaster loan program (in this
section referred to as the ``CDL program''), as authorized by
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act, the President may make loans to a local government
suffering a substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a
result of a major disaster, if the local government
demonstrates a need for financial assistance in order to
preform its governmental function.
(5) The President may cancel the repayment of all or any
part of a loan made to a local government under the CDL program
if revenues following the disaster are insufficient to meet the
operating budget of that local government as a result of
disaster-related revenue losses and additional unreimbursed
disaster-related municipal operating expenses. In the case of a
major disaster designated as an incident of national
significance, including natural disasters and disasters caused
by terrorist acts, repayment of any interest or principal on a
loan made under the CDL program should not be required.
(6) Assistance made available under the CDL program is
often instrumental in aiding the full recovery of a local
government following a major disaster.
(7) The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 established a
$5,000,000 limitation on loans made to a local government under
the CDL program in connection with a major disaster. Before the
date of enactment of such Act, there was not any limitation on
the amount of such loans.
(8) The $5,000,000 limitation is inequitable when applied
to a local government serving a largely populated area, such as
New York City, and when applied to an area that is completely
devastated by a major disaster (such as Orleans, St. Bernard,
and Plaquemines parishes in the State of Louisiana following
Hurricane Katrina), and is inconsistent with the objective of
the CDL program to provide meaningful assistance to a local
government recovering from a major disaster.
(9) On October 4, 2005, the Mayor of New Orleans announced
that the city was laying off 3,000 city employees as a result
of reduced tax revenues following Hurricane Katrina.
SEC. 3. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS.
(a) Eligibility of States.--Section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is
amended by striking ``local government'' each place it appears and
inserting ``State or local government''.
(b) Amount.--Section 417(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184(b)) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``based on need, shall'' and inserting
``based on need and shall''; and
(2) by striking ``, and shall not exceed $5,000,000''.
(c) Incidents of National Significance.--Section 417 of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 5184) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Incidents of National Significance.--
``(1) Loan terms.--In the case a loan made under this
section to a State or local government which may suffer a
substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result of a
major disaster that the President determines to be an incident
of national significance--
``(A) the amount of the loan shall not be subject
to the per centum limitation in subsection (b); and
``(B) the President shall not require the payment
of any interest or principal on a loan.
``(2) Incident of national significance defined.--In this
subsection, the term `incident of national significance' has
the meaning such term has in the national response plan
established pursuant to section 502(6) of the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 312(6)).''.
(d) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
with respect to any major disaster occurring on or after August 24,
2005.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H8796, E2055)
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
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