SANFORD, Mich. (WNEM) - Sen. Gary Peters rolled into Sanford Friday afternoon, Aug. 9, in style on his motorcycle along with a host of other riders right beside him
It’s another year of Kalamazoo to the Soo and this year, Peters is also promoting a special bill that would see a simpler process for people to sign up for federal disaster assistance.
What better place to stop than a community still trying to recover after a massive flood, caused by the Edenville and Sanford Dam failures, four years ago.
“Shows that they’re paying attention to us, because I keep raising my hand and saying small towns need more help with this whole process,” said Dolores Porte, the Village of Stanford president.
Peters ending his cross state motorcycle tour in Sanford on Friday, highlighting a bipartisan bill that could help those affected by natural disasters - a bill that could pique the interest of many in the Sanford community.
“Imagine yourself a homeowner, you just had your house destroyed, you need help from FEMA and other agencies, the last thing you want to be doing at that time is filling out a whole bunch of, sometimes, complicated questionnaires,” Peters said.
“That application process is grueling,” said Porte. “If you say FEMA to anyone, that’s what they talk about is how horrible the application process is.”
A process that Peters is pushing to streamline. He’s promoting his Disaster Assistance Simplification Act.
It would establish a universal application process across all agencies, speeding up how soon resources could get to victims of natural disasters.
“Right now, there are a number of federal agencies that can be there to help someone, and yet every single agency requires you to fill out an application,” Peters said.
The President of the Midland Business Alliance, Tony Stamas, said a bill like this could really make the difference for small communities trying to rebuild.
“Whether it’s an individual, whether it’s businesses, whether it’s organizations, having that assistance and having it in timely manner is just really critical,” said Stamas.
Four years removed from the flood that devastated several communities in mid-Michigan, supporters of Peters’ bill are optimistic about its chances being signed into law.
“We’ve got a bill that’s passed out of committee, it’s gone passed out of the senate, and we’re hoping to get it signed by the president as soon as we can,” Peters said.