Disaster Assistance Reform Act of 2009

Disaster Assistance Reform Act of 2009 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct the President to provide assistance under such Act to an individual or household adversely affected by a major disaster if: (1) such individual or household resides in a county included in a request for a major disaster declaration made by the governor of a state; (2) such state is contiguous to a state for which a major disaster has been declared; and (3) certain counties in each state have comparable damage estimates. Sets forth criteria for determining whether damage estimates are comparable.

[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4141 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4141

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
   Assistance Act to allow certain individuals and households to be 
                    eligible for Federal assistance.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 19, 2009

   Mr. Hill 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 allow certain individuals and households to be 
                    eligible for Federal assistance.

    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 ``Disaster Assistance Reform Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND HOUSEHOLDS IN 
              CONTIGUOUS STATES.

    Section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5176) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(k) Disaster Assistance for Individuals and Households in 
Contiguous States.--Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act and only 
for purposes of this section, the President shall provide an individual 
or household in a State contiguous to a State for which a major 
disaster has been declared with assistance under this section if such 
individual or household--
            ``(1) has been adversely affected by the major disaster; 
        and
            ``(2) resides in a county included in the request for a 
        declaration made by the Governor of the State and such county 
        is in a State contiguous to a State for which a major disaster 
        has been declared, and certain counties in each of such States 
        have comparable damage estimates. For a damage estimate to be 
        comparable, the ratio determined by dividing the number of the 
        houses impacted by the population in a county in a State that 
        has not been declared a major disaster has to equal or exceed 
        the ratio for the county, eligible for disaster assistance for 
        such disaster in the State declared a major disaster, that has 
        the lowest number of houses impacted divided by the population 
        in such county''.
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