Brunswick Co. commissioner heads to D.C. to advocate for disaster relief bill

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC — Despite the federal government shutdown, some local leaders including a Brunswick County Commissioner are in Washington D.C. this week. They are pushing congress to pass the “Fixing Emergency Management for Americans” Act.

The so-called “FEMA Act” aims to reform and strengthen disaster response across the country. Brunswick County Commissioner Frank Williams is apart of the “Intergovernmental Disaster Reform Task Force.”

He said the act would directly benefit his county when rebuilding after storm damage.

“One thing that we’ve been very proactive about doing in Brunswick County is making sure that we have a healthy rainy day fund,” Williams said. “But if we got hit with three storms in one year it would tax that and this would allow any money that we did receive to come back quicker.”

Williams said the act will streamline the disaster fund application process for residents, reform the public assistance program, increase relief transparency, and provide relief on loan interest payments. The act was passed by a house committee and is waiting on action from the full house.