Ahead of Major Hurricane Michael’s Landfall, Rubio Urges DOJ, HHS & IRS to Assist Affected Communities
Ahead of Hurricane Michael's landfall in the
Specifically, Rubio urged Attorney General Sessions to "work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to prepare to investigate and prosecute illegal activity related to Hurricane Michael and its aftermath." He requested HHS Secretary
The full text of his letter to Attorney General Sessions is below.
Dear Attorney General Sessions:
As you know, Hurricane Michael is expected to make landfall in
Law enforcement professionals in
While we know the overwhelming majority of Floridians are outstanding citizens, we must ensure that bad actors are not exploiting those left vulnerable after a disaster. These criminals target storm victims in multiple ways, including identity theft, fraudulent insurance claims, fraudulent solicitations of charitable donations, property theft, price gouging, unscrupulous contractors, and looting. Special attention must be paid to protect the hundreds of thousands of seniors that call
As the
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
The full text of his letter to Secretary Azar is below.
Dear Secretary Azar:
Thank you for your continued leadership in response to Hurricane Florence, and your efforts to protect Americans in
To that end, I respectfully ask that you continue to coordinate with state and local governments to ensure they are prepared and able to quickly respond to Floridians once Michael passes. As requested with previous storms, I would appreciate updates about ongoing coordination with health care providers, including hospitals, inpatient nursing facilities, dialysis centers, and home health providers. Specifically, has the
Additionally, I respectfully request your department to expedite the review of, and to the extent possible, approve any waivers requested by the
I look forward to working with you to ensure
The full text of his letter to Commissioner Rettig is below.
Dear Commissioner Rettig:
As Hurricane Michael approaches the
As you are aware, individuals who withdraw or take a loan from their qualified employer plans before the age of 59 1/2 face early withdrawal penalties that may include a ban on contributions for six months and a 10 percent surtax. Individuals are also limited to a narrow definition as to what qualifies as a "hardship" distribution. As a result of this natural disaster, many Floridians may have to pull from their retirement accounts to rebuild their homes, buy vehicles, and pay for the general costs displacement. As such, I ask that you help Floridians and others affected by this storm recover from this disaster as quickly as possible by providing them with the same penalty relief you provided to those impacted by the 2017 hurricanes. I also request that you relax the definition of a "hardship" distribution to include recovery efforts for Hurricane Michael while also removing the six-month ban on contributions. Additionally, I ask that you allow employees to adopt leave-based donation programs for Hurricane Michael that allows employees to forego vacation, sick, or personal leave in exchange for cash payments to qualifying charitable organizations.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and I look forward to working with you.
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