Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in Disaster Response, Recovery, and Resilience Act of 2020
Latest action · Dec 14, 2020 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 619.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 7, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in Disaster Response, Recovery, and Resilience Act of 2020
This bill establishes the Office of Equal Rights and Community Inclusion (OERCI) within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The OERCI shall be responsible, among other things, for (1) improving underserved community access to disaster assistance and improving the quality of assistance such communities receive; and (2) eliminating racial, ethnic, and other underserved community disparities in the delivery of various preparedness, response, and recovery assistance.
The bill defines underserved community to mean an historically disadvantaged community, including the Native American, African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern and North African, rural, low-income, and disability communities.
FEMA shall (1) administer and evaluate its programs and activities, including those of recipients of preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation grants, in a manner to affirmatively further inclusion and engagement of underserved communities and improved outcomes for underserved communities tied to FEMA programs and activities; and (2) establish an underserved community initiative to award grants to specified nonprofit entities.
The OERCI shall develop measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities of program offices in FEMA and the activities of recipients aimed at reducing disparities in the services provided to underserved communities.
During the period of time for which there is a major disaster or emergency declared by the President with respect to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), the OERCI shall regularly consult with state, local, territorial, and tribal government officials and community-based organizations from underserved communities that it identifies as disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jul 30, 2020 to Aug 5, 2020.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Jul 30, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Kamala D. Harris | Aug 5, 2020 |
Actions 5
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 14, 2020Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 116-316.
- Dec 14, 2020Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 619.
- Jul 22, 2020Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- May 7, 2020Introduced in Senate
- May 7, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Emergency Management.
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Congressional oversight
- Department of Homeland Security
- Disaster relief and insurance
- Emergency Management
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Emergency planning and evacuation
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Federal-Indian relations
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Intergovernmental relations
- Performance measurement
- Poverty and welfare assistance
- Racial and ethnic relations
- Rural conditions and development
- State and local government operations
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 14, 2020Reported to Senate
- May 7, 2020Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.