The tornado-ravaged community of Cameron, Illinois will not receive federal or state aid after a tornado leveled buildings and homes on Thursday, July 16, 2015.
Cameron, a small community with about 400 people, is too small of a town to receive relief dollars, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) formula. For Illinois counties to receive FEMA aid, Illinois must document at least $17.8 million in clean-up costs.
A handful of state legislators, including Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, support a resolution that would change FEMA's formula, leveling the playing field for smaller communities.
The legislation, H.R. 1471, the FEMA Disaster Assistance Reform Act of 2015, includes language that requires FEMA to give greater weight and consideration to the localized impact of a disaster when determining the need for federal assistance.
"Right now, the smaller towns are at a disadvantage to get help through FEMA because the formula that offers aid is based on the statewide population," Bustos told News 8 after touring Cameron Monday morning.
The bill, which failed to face a vote in the last session of Congress, was voted out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in April 2015.
Other lawmakers who support the legislation to change FEMA's formula include Illinois Republicans Rodney Davis, Adam Kinzinger and John Shimkus.
Cameron is the latest community to not be granted federal aid after a tornado. In November 2013, a tornado leveled Washington, Illinois, killing three people and damaging more than 1,000 homes. Washington did not receive FEMA dollars, nor did the rural communities of Rochelle and Fairdale after a tornado destroyed several homes in April 2015.
According to a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), FEMA already takes into account several factors when determining the need for public and individual assistance; however, there is currently no standard to determine which factor is more important than another.
The proposed bill would be retroactive to include all storms that occurred since 2012.