HR 2836

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 10, 2025

Mr. Dunn of Florida (for himself, Mr. Soto, Ms. Lee of Florida, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Webster of Florida, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Donalds, and Mr. Mills) 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 provide for the authority to reimburse local governments or electric cooperatives for interest expenses, 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 “FEMA Loan Interest Payment Relief Act”.

SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT OF INTEREST PAYMENTS RELATED TO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.

(a) In General.—Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“SEC. 431. REIMBURSEMENT OF INTEREST PAYMENTS RELATED TO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.

“(a) In General.—The President, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall provide financial assistance to a local government or electric cooperative as reimbursement for qualifying interest.

“(b) Definitions.—

“(1) In general.—In this section, the following definitions apply:

“(A) Qualifying interest.—The term ‘qualifying interest’ means, with respect to a qualifying loan, the lesser of—

“(i) the actual interest paid to a lender for such qualifying loan; and

“(ii) the interest that would have been paid to a lender if such qualifying loan had an interest rate equal to the prime rate most recently published on the Federal Reserve Statistical Release on selected interest rates.

“(B) Qualifying loan.—The term ‘qualifying loan’ means a loan—

“(i) obtained by a local government or electric cooperative; and

“(ii) of which not less than 90 percent of the proceeds are used to fund activities for which such local government or electric cooperative receives assistance under this Act after the date on which such loan is disbursed.

“(2) Local government.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘local government’ includes the District of Columbia.”.

(b) Rules of Applicability.—

(1) Eligibility.—Any qualifying interest (as such term is defined in section 431 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as added by this Act) incurred by a local government or electric cooperative in the 9 years preceding the date of enactment of this Act shall be treated as eligible for financial assistance for purposes of such section.

(2) Appropriations.—Only amounts appropriated on or after the date of enactment of this Act may be made available to carry out the amendment made by this section.

(c) Alternative Procedures for Outstanding Qualifying Interest Reimbursement.—

(1) In general.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall establish and publish in the Federal Register alternative procedures for States to obtain reimbursement for qualifying loan interest (as such term is defined in section 431(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as added by this Act) eligible under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et. seq) for all projects pending obligation as of the date of enactment of this Act.

(2) Application.—A State requesting reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (1) shall submit an application to the President, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for outstanding qualifying interest reimbursement not later than 60 days after the date of publication of the procedures in such subsection.

(3) Reimbursement timing.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the President, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall reimburse States requesting assistance pursuant to paragraph (1) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. <all>