Congressional delegation calls leadership to fund disaster relief program

The state’s congressional delegation urged House and Senate leadership to provide funding to the same disaster relief program that aided in the state in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy Monday.

The Community Disaster Loan program provides local governments with funding to continue their functions in the wake of disasters that cause significant drops in revenues, as Sandy did and as the COVID-19 will almost certainly do.

“The CDL program provides critical operational funding to local governments that have significant tax and other major revenue losses after major disasters like Superstorm Sandy and the COVID-19 outbreak,” they wrote in the letter. “These loans provide lifelines for municipalities to help prevent disruptions to essential services that are critical to maintain the health and welfare of our communities.”

The letter was signed by New Jersey’s two senators and every member of the state’s House delegation.

“Adequate funding for this program is essential to the local municipalities that are in immediate need of federal assistance,” they said. “While we believe ensuring states and communities have access to robust and flexible spending grants should be the top priority in the next emergency stimulus package for COVID-19 that Congress considers, we simultaneously urge the prioritization and inclusion of adequate funding and improvements to the CDL program.”