Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) announced plans on Monday to introduced legislation that would help flooding victims and promote more charitable giving during natural disasters.
The legislation is in response to severe flooding in Colorado that occurred in September.
“These individuals rebuilt their lives and now the federal government has another chance to help them continue rebuilding,” Gardner said. “My legislation amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow Coloradans to immediately deduct their qualified disaster expenses and put money back into their pocketbooks….”
The legislation will also include a provision that would allow individuals who wish to donate more to natural disaster relief efforts to do so.
“I am also including a provision that would increase the limitation on charitable contributions for disaster relief for those that would like to give more to victims,” Gardner said. “These small changes will make a world of difference to those struggling to put their lives back together.”
Under the bill, disaster contributions would be qualified if the aggregate of a taxpayer’s contribution does not exceed 80 percent of all other qualified disaster contributions.
Gardner worked with Congress to secure $260 million of funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help flood victims in Colorado. He also worked to lift the funding cap for rebuilding damaged roads and bridges there.