North Coast lawmakers aim to stop FEMA from seeking repayment from disaster victims

Two North Coast lawmakers are proposing to bar the Federal Emergency Management Agency from demanding disaster victims return federal aid that was received in good faith, a move taken in response to the agency’s threat to seek repayment from the victims of recent wildfires.

U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman of San Rafael and Mike Thompson of St. Helena are co-sponsoring the bipartisan bill introduced Tuesday by Missouri Republican Rep. Sam Graves. The bill sets out to prevent the federal government from demanding victims return aid, if it’s later determined to have been issued in error, when there is no evidence of fraud.

“It just makes sense for Congress to make clear that FEMA shouldn’t be clawing back disaster relief funds from victims who have gone through terrible hardships,” said Huffman, a Democrat. “They need to look elsewhere if they feel they’re entitled for reimbursement.”

California Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa and Virgin Islands Democrat Stacey Plaskett, a House delegate, are fellow co-sponsors of the bill, HR 5953. Graves is a ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which will take up the bill Wednesday.

The bill also seeks to require FEMA regularly report to Congress on the efforts it is undertaking to reduce errors in federal assistance payments.

FEMA officials reached Tuesday didn’t respond to Press Democrat questions about the proposed changes.

Recent disasters in disparate parts of the country — including wildfires in California and major flooding in Missouri — have highlighted how FEMA’s procedures for issuing disaster assistance, and its methods for correcting allegedly mistaken payouts, have badly impacted some victims of disasters.

The Press Democrat was first to report in December that FEMA was seeking to get a $4 billion cut of the $13.5 billion deal brokered between PG&E and victims of Northern California wildfires linked to the utility’s electrical system, a payout meant to compensate victims for some of their losses.

PG&E sought bankruptcy protection last year under pressure from billions of dollars in liabilities from wildfire disasters sparked by the utility’s equipment. The deal was made to settle victims’ claims in bankruptcy court.

Wildfire victims have objected to FEMA’s claims. Their attorneys are set to argue the matter Wednesday before U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Dennis Montali in San Francisco.

FEMA officials defended the agency’s claim to get more than a quarter of the settlement amount and said that otherwise they will have to seek repayment from individual wildfire victims.

Federal aid is supposed to fill in only after all other sources of assistance are exhausted, according to a FEMA spokesman. If a new source of assistance materializes, such as compensation from a utility blamed for causing the fires, FEMA must demand a return of any help it considers duplicated by the PG&E settlement.

In Missouri, some flood victims who received federal help have faced demands from FEMA to return the assistance money due to a technical issue related to the timeframe of the federal disaster declaration, according to an aide for Graves, whose district was badly hit by last year’s flooding.

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