House committee passes two Graves bills to improve disaster response

The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee this week advanced two bipartisan bills from U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) that would help communities expedite disaster recovery efforts.

The bills will next be considered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The measures, which passed the committee unanimously, would strengthen the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) disaster mitigation and resiliency programs. Rep. Graves said the legislation would address many of the concerns expressed by local officials in his Missouri district on how to improve disaster mitigation and recovery efforts, including in small and rural communities.

“These bills will go a long way towards enabling FEMA to simply do a better job. We rely on them to both help our communities prepare for possible disasters and get back on their feet when they occur,” the congressman said.

Rep. Graves, who serves as the ranking member of the committee, sponsored the Small Project Efficient and Effective Disaster (SPEED) Recovery Act, H.R. 5641, on Oct. 20 with Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). The legislation, if enacted, would help local governments recover from disasters more quickly by cutting red tape and giving communities more tools to rebuild. It would also raise the level for what qualifies as a “small project” in order to expedite recovery efforts, according to a summary of the bill.

Rep. Graves also introduced the Resilient Assistance for Mitigation for Environmentally Resilient Infrastructure and Construction by Americans Act, or the Resilient AMERICA Act,” H.R. 5689, also with bill sponsor Rep. DeFazio. The bill would strengthen FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program by capturing unspent funds to help communities with pre-disaster mitigation. Additionally, the measure would more than double the funding stream dedicated to FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation program and extend eligibility for the program to include private non-profits, the bill summary said.

“Cutting the bureaucratic red tape at FEMA while strengthening the programs they utilize to help prevent and recover from disasters will improve recovery efforts, save lives, and limit the severity of damage when disaster strikes,” Rep. Graves said.