Elizabeth Warren wants ‘equity adviser’ at FEMA, echoing Kamala Harris call for equity-based aid

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pushing to create a new "equity adviser" at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that would ensure "underserved communities" have a fair shot at receiving federal disaster aid.

Warren, D-Mass., is hoping to attach this requirement to the annual defense policy bill that the Senate started working on this week. Senate consideration of that bill began just days after Vice President Kamala Harris suggested an equity-based system of distributing aid related to climate change.

"It is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions," Harris said Sept. 30. "We have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity."

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren is hoping to attach FEMA equity requirement to the annual defense policy bill that the Senate started working on this week. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Many interpreted Harris’ remarks as a signal that FEMA would distribute Hurricane Ian disaster relief funding based on race or other considerations. The White House rejected that interpretation and said she was only talking about how to distribute long-term federal funding to fight climate change.

But Warren’s amendment appears to embrace the idea that the White House rejected, and explicitly calls on FEMA to consider race, ethnicity and class when immediate disaster aid is delivered. Her amendment was introduced a day before Harris made her controversial remarks, but the vice president’s comments could influence senators’ decisions on whether to include Warren’s language in the days and weeks ahead.

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Vice President Kamala Harris was widely criticized over recent comments about hurricane relief.  (Reuters/Hannah Beier)

Under Warren’s amendment, the FEMA administrator would designate a senior official as an "equity adviser" to offer advice on the fair distribution of FEMA funds. The adviser would have to be a "qualified expert with significant experience with respect to equity policy, civil rights policy, or programmatic reforms."

The equity adviser would help oversee a broad equity program established by Warren’s amendment. For example, Warren’s language would require FEMA to develop and implement a process to ensure "equity in the provision of federal assistance and throughout all programs and policies of the agency."

Under her amendment, "federal assistance" is defined to include all aid delivered pursuant to a declaration of a major disaster or emergency.

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"Underserved community" is defined as Native Americans and Alaska natives, African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, people of Middle Eastern and North African descent, as well as rural, low-income and disabled people, those with a limited English proficiency, or "any other disadvantaged community" as determined by FEMA.

The amendment would require the equity adviser to work directly with civil rights organizations, community groups, "academic organizations specializing in diversity" and others to ensure equity is advanced within FEMA. It also creates a steering group to advise FEMA on these matters.