Kirk, Durbin Urge FEMA to Bring Fairness and Consistency to Disaster Declaration Process

Press Release

U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) today introduced The Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act, which aims to bring fairness and consistency to FEMA's current disaster declaration process. In a severe storm or natural disaster, communities in a state, like Illinois, with a large population -- more than 12 million people -- must incur a relatively higher level of damage than communities in a state with a smaller population. FEMA's methodology for determining federal disaster assistance places far too much emphasis on statewide population and overall tax revenues, disadvantaging states with large, populated centers. The Kirk-Durbin bill would require FEMA to take into consideration local economic factors, such as the local assessable tax base, the median income as it compares to that of the state, and the poverty rate as it compares to that of the state, in order to ensure that communities affected by disaster are not denied public assistance based on a "per capita" indicator.

A bipartisan House companion was also introduced by Representatives Rodney Davis (R-Ill.-13), Mike Bost (R-Ill.-12), John Shimkus (R-Ill.-15) and Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.-17).

"Communities like Washington, Illinois, that have been devastated by natural disasters should not be ineligible for aid just because FEMA's methodology is outdated," Senator Kirk said. "Having seen firsthand the damage that the 2013 tornadoes caused this community, I have continued to urge FEMA to reevaluate their methodology for determining aid, and will continue to work with my bipartisan colleagues to ensure that families are not stuck without help when it is most needed."

"Changes to FEMA's disaster declaration process can't come soon enough for communities across Illinois and I am glad members of the Illinois delegation have joined together in support of this legislation," Senator Durbin said. "We don't know when the next severe weather event will strike, but we should be able to count on the federal government to provide assistance when it does. It's time to fix the broken metrics that FEMA uses to determine disaster assistance and bring some fairness back into the system so that people in Illinois are not unfairly punished for living in a populous state."

"Time and time again we've seen FEMA deny downstate communities from receiving federal assistance following storms," Congressman Davis said. "With the most recent examples being Gifford and Washington, but just a few years ago Harrisburg in Southern Illinois was denied as well. It simply isn't right when a storm leaves behind damage in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky and the only communities to be denied federal assistance are in Illinois. The current system puts downstate and rural communities at a strong disadvantage, and that has to change."

"Our town learned first-hand of the flaws in the FEMA disaster declaration process," Washington Mayor Gary Manier said. "I applaud Senators Kirk and Durbin and their efforts to keep fighting for us and to prevent other small towns from going through the same thing that we did."

In November 2013, tornadoes touched down in Washington, Illinois that devastated the community, destroying more than 1,000 homes and creating more than $25 million worth of damages. Then-Governor Pat Quinn requested federal aid for local governments in Champaign, Douglas, Grundy, Massac, Tazewell, Vermillion, Washington, Wayne and Woodford counties. The request was denied. Under the Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act, FEMA would have been forced to heavily weigh the devastating impacts the November tornados had on local tax base and income of Washington, Ill., in its evaluation of whether to award public assistance. No longer would smaller communities like Washington be discriminated against due to a per capita factor, which unfairly hurts communities damaged by disasters and that reside in states with a large population, such as Chicago.

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