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To amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the President to automatically waive certain critical document fees for individuals and households affected by major disasters for which assistance is provided under the Individuals and Households Program.
Summary
The REPLACE Act amends the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the President to automatically waive fees for critical documents such as passports and licenses for individuals and households affected by major disasters. The automatic fee waiver applies when a major disaster is declared, federal assistance is provided to individuals and households under the Individuals and Households Program, and the disaster destroyed a critical document. The Secretary of State and the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services must make notices about fee waivers publicly available on their websites. Both agencies must submit annual reports to Congress documenting the number of fee waivers granted and the cost of providing those waivers. The requirement for the President to provide fee waivers applies regardless of other assistance provisions, ensuring disaster victims can replace essential documents without paying fees.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
3 cosponsors
- Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] (D-CO)
- Sen. Curtis, John R. [R-UT] (R-UT)
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to John W. Hickenlooper’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES $21,750
- THE WONDERFUL COMPANY $13,200
- ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ $13,200
- WALKER & DUNLOP $6,600
- BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for John W. Hickenlooper → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Feb 13, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. · senate
- Feb 13, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 13, 2025
Mr. Hickenlooper (for himself, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Curtis) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
A BILL
To amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the President to automatically waive certain critical document fees for individuals and households affected by major disasters for which assistance is provided under the Individuals and Households Program.
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 “Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act” or the “REPLACE Act”.
SEC. 2. CRITICAL DOCUMENT FEE WAIVER.
Section 1238(a) of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 5174b) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking “applies regardless” and inserting “and the requirement of the President to waive fees under paragraph (4) apply regardless”;
(2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (8); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
“(4) Waiver.—The President, in consultation with the Governor of a State, shall provide a fee waiver described in paragraph (1) to any individual or household that has been adversely affected by a major disaster declared under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170)—
“(A) for which the President provides assistance to individuals and households under section 408 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 5174); and
“(B) that destroyed a critical document described in paragraph (1) of the individual or household.
“(5) Waiver availability.—The Secretary of State and the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of State and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, respectively, a notice of the availability of fee waivers described in paragraph (4).
“(6) Report from uscis.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report—
“(A) the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and
“(B) the cost to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of granting fee waivers under this subsection.
“(7) Report from department of state.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report—
“(A) the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and
“(B) the cost to the Department of State of granting fee waivers under this subsection.”. <all>
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