Ocasio Cortez represents one of the hardest hit congressional districts in the country, with over 19,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19

May 3, 2020 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the House companion of the Pandemic Disaster Assistance Act, legislation first put forward by Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) in March. The legislation would expand the ability of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide financial assistance directly to individuals during a pandemic, including the current coronavirus outbreak. Currently, FEMA can only provide individual assistance during natural disasters, such as wildfires, floods, and earthquakes.

(Left) Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

“Nearly twenty-thousand people in my district have tested positive for a deadly virus.  Thousands of my constituents are without work. We built temporary field hospitals in public parks. This is what a disaster looks like. FEMA needs to begin immediately dispersing aid to individuals hurt by COVID-19,” said Representative Ocasio-Cortez. 

“We are in the midst of an unprecedented public health and economic crisis, and people are hurting. The magnitude of this crisis demands that FEMA treat those impacted by pandemics the same as it does when a natural disaster strikes. That includes providing disaster food assistance, disaster unemployment assistance, and help paying for funerals. I’m proud to partner with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on this legislation to ensure the federal government uses every tool available to help the American people recover from this crisis,” said Senator Harris. 

The Pandemic Disaster Assistance Act would ensure that after any disaster, following approval from the governor and the president, individuals would be able to apply directly for aid from the following programs, among others: 

• Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP)

• Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)  - This existing program would be expanded to individuals who lose their jobs/ see their hours reduced/ or cannot reach their place of work because of the pandemic. It would last for 26 weeks and could be extended by the President. It creates a national floor for benefits at 1.5x the national weekly average, and provides waiver to requirement to exhaust state Unemployment Insurance options.

• Medical Assistance – assistance with medical expenses as a result of a disaster.

• Funeral Assistance – available to families with loved ones that die from the disaster.

• Child Care Assistance – up to 8 weeks of child care expenses.

The bill text is available here. 
Source: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez