Description:
As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on July 30, 2014
S. 2665 would codify an existing policy allowing broadcasting facilities to be eligible for certain government assistance following a disaster. CBO estimates that implementing this legislation would have no cost. Enacting S. 2665 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
Under current law, private nonprofit facilities are eligible to receive grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for damages incurred during a disaster if the facility provides critical public services or is ineligible for a Small Business Administration loan. According to information from FEMA, broadcasting facilities are eligible for such assistance under current agency policy. S. 2665 would explicitly list broadcasting facilities as an eligible provider of critical services in statute. But because there would be no change to current eligibility, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2665 would have no federal cost.
S. 2665 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
