"Disaster Victims Protection Act"; requires Governor to allocate federal and State disaster aid to municipalities in proportion to amount of catastrophic physical damage sustained within each municipality.

S 3651, the "Disaster Victims Protection Act," requires New Jersey's Governor to allocate federal and state disaster aid to municipalities based on the proportion of catastrophic physical damage each municipality sustained, rather than allocating funds primarily by county designation. This directly affects municipalities and their residents/businesses after disasters, ensuring those with the most severe damage receive aid aligned with their needs. The key mechanism mandates that when distributing Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds or state relief, the Governor must prioritize allocation "in proportion to the relative amount of physical damage sustained within each municipality." The bill responds to past inequities, such as during Hurricane Sandy recovery, where some heavily damaged municipalities received less aid than less damaged areas within the same designated counties.