Published August 11, 2015
By Russ Zimmer

Longtime foes are giving a thumbs up to Gov. Chris Christie for signing into law new standards on transparency for superstorm Sandy aid.

The passage of S-2825 on Monday was followed by a flurry of statements from housing and recovery advocates, praising Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic leaders in the New Jersey for breaking through on a landmark piece of legislation.

"For the many families who are still struggling to rebuild their homes and their lives after Sandy, this legislation is an important step in the right direction," said Staci Berger, CEO of The Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. "This will allow them to find out quickly and easily where they stand in the process which will help them make the best decisions for their future."

But it wasn't an obvious slam-dunk that the bill would get the governor's blessing.

An earlier attempt at a similar bill failed in April 2013, when Christie scratched it out with his veto pen. The governor said it "would produce unnecessary redundancies and waste government resources."

About a year later, Christie scuttled another piece of legislation whose legacy can be seen in Monday's bill. This one was known colloquially as "the Sandy Bill of Rights" and it outlined 12 guarantees that New Jersey would make to Sandy victims.

So how is this new law different than what Democrats had put forth previously?

1. It goes beyond knowing where your place in line is

Under the new law, applicants for Sandy aid — most notably those in the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program and it's low- and moderate-income (LMI) counterpart — should expect a personalized timeline of when they will receive the proceeds of their grant. The law also requires that a majority of homeowners in the rebuilding programs to receive at least half of their grant money by the end of this year.

In earlier attempts, the Democrats were seeking the ability for Sandy victims to find out where in the process their project was, but not necessarily where it was going next and when it would get there.

2. It does not address "equal access" concerns

The Sandy Bill of Rights was introduced a few weeks after a bombshell report from the Fair Share Housing Center that 79 percent of those who appealed their rejected RREM applications were found to have been eligible all along. African-Americans and Latinos were disproportionately affected.

As a result, that piece of legislation had several components that stressed fair treatment regardless of race or ethnicity, promised to deliver program information in languages other than English, and required an explanation for why an application was rejected. None of that is in the newly passed law.

One reason for the absence is that some of those concerns have been addressed through other channels, primarily a May 2014 settlement between several housing advocates and the DCA that was brokered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

3. It swaps out one very interesting report for another less compelling one

Previously, Democrats sought a quarterly report from the New Jersey Department of Treasury that would have analyzed the effectiveness of Sandy spending in getting people home or rebuilding roads or whatever the money was intended for. That report didn't make it into the bill passed on Monday.

Instead, the DCA is required to research and report on how unused disaster money can deployed to people who have been approved for Sandy but are still waiting on those funds to be released. The state has already made moves in this direction, including reallocating $29 million for the LMI rebuilding program and moving $9.5 million into a rental assistance program.

4. It reaffirms the state's opposition to clawing back RREM money

New Jersey, according to the new law, must petition HUD and/or the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a waiver that would allow people to keep their RREM grant money no matter how much additional money they get through the Sandy claims review process. This wasn't in the vetoed proposals, but it's also kind of moot.

The state has already made that request of HUD and, in fact, has made it public that — under certain circumstances — New Jersey won't seek to recapture RREM money that might previously have considered to be an overpayment when the new insurance payment is factored in.

5. It creates a new website but with fewer bells and whistles

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs must establish a new website (and telephone hotline) that gives "a plain language explanation of every recovery and rebuilding program," a list of contractors that have been pre-qualified by the state, a description of Sandy aid spending, a full explanation of how funding decisions are made and — perhaps most critically — a method for people in RREM and the other programs to send a secure online request for a status update on their project.

Prior bill language would have made this site home for information that has since been made available on oneoftheotherstatewebsites that furnish the public with Sandy information.

Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, [email protected]