Federal

Plaskett, Graves, Reintroduce Legislation To Expedite Initial FEMA Funding Post-Disaster Declaration

A resuscitated Expediting Disaster Recovery Act is back before the U.S. House of Representatives, thanks to efforts by V.I. Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett as well as Representative Garrett Graves of Louisiana.  The measure, which passed the House with bipartisan support during the 117th Congress, would create a separate funding stream so that the Federal Emergency Management Agency can allocate key assistance within 30 days of the declaration of a major disaster.  “After the experiences of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, it was abundantly clear that our territory and the other disaster-impacted areas need the support of the federal government to rebuild lives, businesses, and communities as quickly as possible,” Congresswoman Plaskett said in a statement about the proposed legislation. “This bill cuts out some of the unnecessary federal process to put a minimum amount of long-term recovery funding on the ground in the immediate aftermath of a major disaster, without taking away over...