WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously passed the Making Aid for Local Disasters Equal Now (MALDEN) Act, introduced by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Named after Malden, Washington, devastated by the Babb Road Fire in 2020, the legislation aims to improve coordination among federal, state, and local agencies to better deploy resources to rural communities affected by natural disasters.
The MALDEN Act will now advance to the full House of Representatives.
“I’m grateful to my colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for understanding the importance of the MALDEN Act to rural communities in Eastern Washington,” Rodgers said. “Today’s decisive vote sends a clear message to those impacted by devastating wildfires that they will not be left behind, no matter where they live. Improving coordination at every level of government to efficiently deploy recovery resources is an idea whose time has come, and I look forward to it getting a vote in the full House as soon as possible.”
The MALDEN Act would amend the Stafford Act to ensure rural communities receive recovery assistance by requiring FEMA to collaborate with state leadership to guide local emergency managers in forming recovery teams.
The act mandates assistance in identifying both short- and long-term recovery resources, including measures to prevent secondary natural disasters like flooding, mudslides, and rockslides.
Additionally, the bill directs FEMA to partner with state emergency management agencies to make disaster case workers available to rural communities if a request for Individual Assistance is denied.
To read the whole bill text click here.
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