Baldwin Keeps Pressure on for Flood Relief Funds

Press Release

With the House poised to take up legislation this week on flood insurance reform priorities, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has introduced an amendment to release payments that are due to Jefferson County residents whose homes were rendered uninhabitable by the 2008 floods.

"Jefferson County residents have waited far too long for relief they are due," said Baldwin. "I have made it my mission to get those funds to their intended recipients, and I will use every tool in the toolbox to achieve that goal," Baldwin said.

In February 2010, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) implemented "Immediate Needs Funding," effectively freezing Disaster Relief Funds (DRF) funds already approved to assist families recovering from the record-setting 2008 floods. FEMA has said that these funds will not be released until supplemental funding is approved. Earlier this month, the House approved a measure that would provide FEMA with $5.1 billion in supplemental funding, but that bill is stalled in the Senate.

The amendment that Baldwin seeks to attach to the flood insurance reform bill directs FEMA to immediately release the DRF funds and prioritize those individuals and businesses already approved for this assistance.

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