The widespread damage caused by Hurricane Helen is increasing pressure on lawmakers ahead of the looming year-end battle over disaster funding.
Funding negotiators on both sides acknowledge the need for additional resources for disaster recovery, but it's already a bone of contention in spending negotiations and could continue as a divided Congress returns from recess. .
President Biden said Monday he may ask Congress to reconvene during the October break to pass additional emergency funding for storm recovery, and lawmakers in hard-hit states also intend to do so. showed.
But an early return to Congress seems unlikely, with lawmakers campaigning across the country ahead of November and Republican leaders pushing for the federal emergency management plan included in last week's emergency spending bill. FEMA says there is enough money to deal with the Helen problem.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Tuesday that “Congress has provided the necessary funding for the response and we will ensure that those funds are appropriately allocated.”
And House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said this week that funding legislation passed by Congress will ensure FEMA is “adequately funded in the short term.”
Congress passed a three-month interim measure last week to prevent government funding from expiring before the Sept. 30 deadline to avoid a government shutdown.
Notably, the bipartisan agreement passed the day before Helen made landfall in Florida did not include billions of dollars in additional funding to FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund (DRF).
The embezzlers say the deal would instead allow government agencies to use the fund's resources more quickly for disaster response during emergency response periods, with FEMA withdrawing about $20 billion in funds starting Oct. 1. He said he could.
But financial negotiators on both sides admit more money is needed in the coming months.
Sen. Katie Britt (Ala.), the top Republican on the subcommittee that oversees FEMA funding, said in a statement this week that money made available within the fund “will be pushed out through existing processes. ”, but the DRF added: “Additional funding will be needed in the coming months for the remainder of fiscal year 2025.”
“We will undoubtedly learn more in the coming days and weeks about short- and long-term recovery needs, and to help our fellow countrymen who have lost loved ones, livelihoods, and lives.” We look forward to hearing from the administration about what additional resources are needed for property and property from Hurricane Helen. ”
But disaster aid has been a thorny topic for some lawmakers in recent spending talks, with some Democrats saying disaster relief spending misses the point as Congressional leaders huddled over stopgap measures last month. He was furious.
“This bill risks depleting FEMA's disaster relief funds once again,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) said at the time. “Especially if we are dealing with more catastrophic weather, spending next year’s funding early could create a perfect storm before the next funding deadline.”
House Republicans previously included $10 billion in additional funding for FEMA as part of an initial six-month stopgap proposal. But funding stopped amid demands from conservative hardliners for more steps to be taken to rein in government spending. Other Republicans also expressed confidence that the shorter stopgap plan ultimately adopted would have enough funding.
“With up to $20 billion in funding available, there will be no shortage of funds to respond to natural disasters. No additional funds were added, but they will be available sooner and all my concerns are resolved. Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told The Hill last week.
“We're going to talk about that in December, especially if natural disasters continue,” Kennedy said.
However, after the hurricane hit, killed at least 150 peoplemembers of Congress have repeatedly called for an immediate return to Congress to pass additional funding legislation.
“My view is we should come back and get the job done,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) said Monday that the Senate should “immediately reconvene” to pass additional disaster aid.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.S.C.) wrote in a post on It is essential that we do so.” ”
FEMA says it has funding to cover the response to Hurricane Helen, but officials say the agency may have to cut funding again in the coming months, resulting in a loss of funding for local communities. It warns that public assistance and reimbursement for risk reduction projects could be sacrificed.
The agency made similar cuts earlier this year as funding dried up.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters last week that “we launched the Emergency Relief Fund because disaster relief funds were running low,” forcing $9 billion worth of projects to be put on hold. He added that it was gone.
Criswell said at the time that temporary funding measures passed last week to avert a government shutdown would allow government agencies to pay for these projects for the time being.
But without additional funding from Congress, FEMA will likely have to return to emergency funding (INF) by January and put more projects on hold, she added.
Without additional funding, putting these projects on hold could hamper recovery efforts in the months following a disaster, said Yucel Ors, director of public safety and crime prevention legislation at the National League of Cities.
“They're still clearing debris. They're still building infrastructure, roads, communication systems, power lines and everything else. The recovery process is going to take a long time,” Ors said. told Hill.
“If FEMA places limits on INF, that funding could be frozen until FEMA receives additional funding from Congress,” he added. “That means all recovery processes, whether local or state, need to build up that money and hopefully be reimbursed in the future by FEMA, otherwise these recovery processes will take even longer. It may take.”
Orth pointed out that a prolonged recovery process could have a negative impact on the city. The reason for this is not only that it takes time to build the infrastructure itself, but also because governments often provide loans for reconstruction purposes, which can result in high interest rates being paid due to delays in repayment. .
This could also have knock-on effects and limit other services provided by local authorities.
“The more this money goes toward disaster recovery, the harder it will be to rebuild.” [be] So that cities can actually fund other projects that they're working on to make their communities safer, strengthen their communities, and make them more economically competitive,” Orth said.
Also, without additional spending, funding for projects that help regions proactively prepare for extreme weather events, such as stormwater drainage management, levee strengthening, and wildfire firebreaks, is also at risk. are.
“We know that if these programs are cut, the cost of disaster recovery will go up,” Ors said.
He called on FEMA to “fully fund” it through an additional package. Other advocacy groups made similar calls.
“With payments from major FEMA programs on hold, communities still reeling from past disasters are struggling to repair damaged facilities, repair roads and bridges, and build infrastructure to make them more resilient to future disasters.” “We may choose to postpone permanent recovery efforts, such as rebuilding,” Julie Seeger said. The American Flood Coalition's director of government relations and policy told The Hill in a written statement.
“Congress must provide consistent, long-term policy.” [Disaster Relief Fund] We will provide resources to enable FEMA to continue its lifesaving emergency operations without slowing the hard-fought recovery efforts of communities across the country,” Seeger added.
