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S3651
SENATE, No. 3651
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
���� "Disaster Victims Protection Act"; requires
Governor to allocate federal and State disaster aid to municipalities in
proportion to amount of catastrophic physical damage sustained within each
municipality.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning the allocation of federal and State
disaster funds and supplementing chapter 9 of Appendix A.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� This act shall be known
and may be cited as the "Disaster Victims Protection Act."
���� 2.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that:
���� a.���� Beginning on October
28, 2012, and continuing through October 30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy produced
unprecedented severe weather conditions and devastated the State of New
Jersey and its residents with high winds and torrential rains, enormous storm
surges and floods.
���� b.��� As a result of the
catastrophic damage to the State caused by Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey received
billions of dollars from Congress in the form of Community Development Block
Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to support the State�s recovery and rebuilding
efforts.� The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
designated the nine most-impacted counties, which include Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Union counties, to which
the CDBG-DR funds were to be allocated.
���� c.���� Although the entire
State suffered as a result of this natural disaster, some municipalities within
the nine most-impacted counties were much more severely damaged than other
municipalities within the nine designated counties.
���� d.��� While worthwhile housing
and development projects within the nine most-impacted counties have been
funded with CDBG-DR funds, some of the municipalities that were the hardest hit
and most financially strained within those nine counties remain in need of substantial
aid and development due to funds not being allocated in proportion to the
amount of damage suffered by the municipality, but by the designation of the
county itself.� This has caused some municipalities to receive disaster relief
aid substantially disproportionate to the amount of damage suffered,
particularly when compared to municipalities that suffered more damage within
other designated counties.
���� e.���� In order to utilize
limited federal and State disaster relief funds in the most appropriate manner,
and to provide assistance to those most vulnerable and most in need in our
State without delay, when developing a State action plan for the allocation and
disbursement of federal CDBG-DR funds and State resources, it is only fair and
just that municipal funding priority consideration be given to municipalities
for its rebuilding and development efforts in direct proportion to the amount
of physical damage sustained within each municipality.
���� 3.��� Whenever the Governor is
given discretion by the federal government to allocate federal Community
Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds through the creation of an
action plan or other administrative process, or when the Governor has
discretion in the allocation of State disaster relief funds, priority
consideration in the allocation of funds to and within municipalities, as far
as practicable under federal funding requirements, shall be given in proportion
to the relative amount of physical damage sustained within each municipality.
���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� Under this bill, the Governor
would allocate federal and State disaster relief aid to municipalities,
including residents and businesses therein, in proportion to the relative
amount of catastrophic physical damage suffered within each affected
municipality.� This aid allocation methodology is intended to ensure that
residential victims and business owners in the most heavily damaged areas
following a disaster are provided assistance prior to the expenditure of aid
monies for other economic development and redevelopment projects.
���� In response to the
unprecedented damage to this State caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, New
Jersey received billions of federal dollars from Congress in the form of
Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to support
the State�s rebuilding and reconstruction efforts.� With approval from the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Governor
allocated millions of dollars to housing development projects within the nine
most-impacted counties, as designated by HUD, which include Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Union counties.
���� Some municipalities within
these designated counties were completely devastated, while other
municipalities within these counties suffered far less, if any, major damage.� Some
of the least-damaged municipalities, however, received disproportionately
greater CGBG-DR funding from the State for development projects, leaving some
of the residents and businesses in more damaged municipalities at a fiscal
disadvantage for reconstruction.� This bill is intended to ensure that residents
and businesses most impacted by a disaster will receive a level of disaster
relief aid commensurate with the amount of damage sustained within the
municipality.� Fundamental principles of fairness and equity require that the
residents and businesses in those municipalities that are the hardest hit and
suffer the most physical damage from a natural or other disaster should receive
the most relief.