By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Sen. Amanda Shelton today introduced a bill proposing $500 in direct assistance for each of the thousands of Guam families affected by Typhoon Mawar.
The cash could be used for food, fuel, clean-up or other emergency needs resulting from the devastation visited upon the island by Typhoon Mawar six (6) days ago.
Under the plan proposed in Bill 129037, an estimated 71,000 filers of 2021 tax returns will be eligible for a one-time $500 payment.
Shelton said "everyone is treated with parity. If you filed in 2021 you should expect a check in the mail."
Sens. Roy A. B. Quinata, Dwayne T.D. San Nicolas, and William A. Parkinson joined Shelton as co-sponsors of Bill 129-37, which was introduced at today's emergency session.
“Despite everything people did to prepare for Typhoon Mawar, the disruption to lives is enormous. Not only are families across Guam having to wait in long lines for food and fuel, they’re struggling to care for their children and our manåmko’ without water and power services,” Shelton said.
The bill gives the Leon Guerrero administration a special one-time emergency transfer authority to fund the aid and two weeks to start distributing checks. But Senator Shelton says it should not take that long.
“We are not reinventing the wheel. Our agencies successfully implemented programs these past few years such as All RISE and Ayuda i Mangngafa (Help for Families Act) which helped get people through the worst of Covid," Shelton said.
"We are giving the administration the ways and means to help people again now. And, I have no doubt the administration has the institutional knowledge and administrative infrastructure to immediately provide our families with the help they urgently need,” she added.
Earlier this week, President Biden approved Guam's request for Individual Assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which provides grants for homeowners and renters like rental assistance and money for home repairs. FEMA inspectors will perform home-by-home assessments to initiate the process to provide direct relief to Guam residents.
Register with FEMA by calling 1-800-621-3362, visiting disasterassistance.gov or downloading the application on the FEMA App. For more information about registration, processing and FEMA’s Individual Assistance Programs, visit fema.gov. In-person application sites are anticipated to be announced soon.
The Bureau of Statistics and Plans is also conducting the Business Sector Disaster Damage Assessment of the damages to business establishments that have been caused by Typhoon Mawar.
The Department of Agriculture teams are conducting Preliminary Damage Assessments with farmers that are registered with DOAG.
The result of the PDA will help determine what assistance programs, if any, can be brought in to support our local farmers.
Farmers that suffered crop loss are requested to document their losses and contact DOAG at 671-300-7972-73. Farmers can also visit agriculture@doagguam.gov for more information.