"begin tracking information about anti-Sikh, anti-Hindu and anti-Arab hate crimes as soon as possible so that law enforcement can more effectively respond to this threat." In December 2018, Gillibrand stated her hope that the No Cash Bail Act would be one of the first bills introduced in the 116th United States Congress, legislation that she said would require states to implement alternative pretrial systems along with a reduction in pretrial jail populations should they request receiving federal funding as part of an incentive program in addition to withholding grant funding from states that continue to utilize cash bail. Gillibrand furthered that the US should not imprison individuals that could not afford their bail and that the US "is much better than that and I believe we need to give people the opportunity to thrive, to help them when they're down, to make sure they actually have access to the rehabilitation they might need when things go wrong." In December 2018, Gillibrand voted for the First Step Act, legislation aimed at reducing recidivism rates among federal prisoners through expanding job training and other programs in addition to forming an expansion of early-release programs and modifications on sentencing laws such as mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, "to more equitably punish drug offenders." Disaster relief In April 2018, Gillibrand was one of five Democratic senators to sign a letter to FEMA administrator Brock Long calling on FEMA to enter an agreement with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development that would "stand up the Disaster Housing Assistance Program and address the medium- and longer-term housing needs" of evacuees of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The senators asserted that "FEMA's refusal to use the tools at its disposal, including DHAP, to help these survivors is puzzling -- and profoundly troubling" and that hundreds of hurricane survivors were susceptible to being left homeless if FEMA and HUD continued to not work together. Drug policy In December 2018, Gillibrand was one of twenty-one senators to sign a letter to Commissioner of Food and Drugs Scott Gottlieb stating their approval of the actions of the Food and Drugs Administration to hinder youth access to e-cigarettes and urging the FDA "to take additional, stronger steps to prevent and reduce e-cigarette use among youth." In June 2019, Gillibrand unveiled a proposal to legalize marijuana that included the establishment of a process that