Title: Fairness in Disaster Relief Act
Policy area: Emergency Management

Summary:
Fairness in Disaster Relief Act
This bill authorizes the President to reimburse local governments for interest expenses for loans pertaining to disaster relief.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3407 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3407

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
    Assistance Act to provide for the authority to reimburse local 
       governments for interest expenses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 2020

    Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Scott of Florida) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
    Assistance Act to provide for the authority to reimburse local 
       governments 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 ``Fairness in Disaster Relief Act''.

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

    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 may provide financial assistance 
to a local government as reimbursement for qualifying interest.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions 
apply:
            ``(1) Prime rate.--The term `prime rate' means the average 
        predominant prime rate quoted by commercial banks to large 
        businesses, as determined by the Board of Governors of the 
        Federal Reserve System.
            ``(2) Qualifying interest.--The term `qualifying interest' 
        means, with respect to a qualifying loan, the lesser of--
                    ``(A) the actual interest paid to a lender for such 
                qualifying loan; and
                    ``(B) 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.
            ``(3) Qualifying loan.--The term `qualifying loan' means a 
        loan--
                    ``(A) obtained by a local government; and
                    ``(B) of which not less than 90 percent of the 
                proceeds are used to fund activities for which such 
                local government receives assistance under this Act 
                after the date on which such loan is disbursed.''.
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