by Jennifer Shutt, West Virginia Watch
November 18, 2024
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is calling on Congress to approve $98.4 billion in emergency spending to support the federal government’s response and recovery efforts after a series of natural disasters, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, that hit parts the southeastern states devastated.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Agriculture Department would receive the bulk of the funding request if lawmakers approve it in full, although they can boost, decrease or ignore it as they wish.
Congress is expected to begin considering the request for additional spending this week before going on a week-long Thanksgiving break. It is likely that lawmakers and staff will release an emergency spending bill in early December, when both chambers return to a three-week session.
“It is absolutely critical that these communities know that their government has not forgotten them,” White House budget director Shalanda Young said in a briefing with reporters on Monday.
The spending request, she said, would address a number of natural disasters across the country, including ongoing recovery efforts following the Maui wildfires; Tornadoes in the Midwest; the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland; and severe storms in Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia were hit by the hurricanes.
Busy hurricane and tornado season
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said during the call that 2024 was “a year of records.”
“Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 storm to form in the Atlantic, and Hurricane Helene devastated six states,” Criswell said. “We experienced the second largest spring tornado season ever recorded. And we saw a 50% increase in disaster activity overall.”
FEMA managed 114 disaster declarations in 2023, but has provided response and recovery assistance for 172 natural disasters so far this year, Criswell said.
“To date, FEMA has provided over $7.5 billion alone for the response and recovery from Hurricanes Helene and Milton,” she said. “These storms were incredibly large, and spending on each storm in the first month after landfall exceeded nearly all disasters we have responded to in the last 20 years.”
She said FEMA has enough resources to continue its life-saving relief and recovery activities until the expiration of an emergency funding law on Dec. 20, assuming no further major disasters occur.
The emergency spending request released Monday calls on Congress to provide matching funds
$40 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund.
$24 billion for the Department of Agriculture to “assist farmers who have suffered crop or livestock losses due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, drought and wildfires.” These funds would also go toward a constant pay overhaul for federal wildland firefighters and emergency food assistance programs, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Programs for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, aaccording to a fact sheet.
$12 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery programs.
$8 billion for the Department of Transportation to repair roads and bridges in 40 states and territories that have been “severely damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic failures due to external causes,” a fact sheet said.
$4 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency for “long-term water system upgrades” and hazardous waste and debris cleanup.
$3 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, which Young said would lend a hand “build supply chain capacity and resiliency for infusions and other essential medical products that have become in short supply during recent hurricanes.”
$2 billion for the Small Business Administration for low-interest disaster loans.
$2 billion for the Department of Commerce for malleable economic development grants and the purchase of three Hurricane Hunter aircraft.
$1 billion for the Department of Education to support schools in affected areas.
$1 billion for the Department of Energy to “support grid reconstruction, modernization, and future strengthening efforts in areas most affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and to fund the implementation of energy recovery efforts in communities affected by the Maui wildfires.” says an information sheet.
$500 million for the Army Corps of Engineers to reimburse the cost of clearing debris after a ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland.
$300 million for the State Department to “address the need for additional water infrastructure to prevent and reduce wastewater flows and contaminants at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant” in California.
$200 million for the Interior Department for several programs, including a constant overhaul of federal salaries for wildland firefighters, repairing siphons on Montana’s St. Mary Canal and hazard impact mapping, the fact sheet says.
$200 million for the Department of Labor’s Dislocated Worker National Reserve.
$100 million for the Legal Services Corporation to provide legal assistance to low-income disaster survivors.
$100 million for AmeriCorps for disaster recovery projects.
Congress considers disaster recovery
Congressional committees are holding a series of hearings this week to examine how the Biden administration has responded to this year’s numerous natural disasters and to consider requests for additional spending.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting hearing Tuesday Morning with Criswell; North Carolina Republican Representative Chuck Edwards represents western parts of the stateincluding Asheville; and Florida Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor, who represents parts of the Tampa Bay area.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee will hold a meeting hearing Tuesday afternoon on FEMA’s response to natural disasters, with testimony from Criswell.
The Senate Budget Committee will hold a meeting on Wednesday hearing on disaster funding needs with testimony from Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Development Adrianne Todman and FEMA Administrator Criswell.
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will work with leadership to develop the additional spending bill.
Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., released a written statement Monday urging her colleagues to quickly approve an emergency spending bill.
“We cannot afford to delay disaster relief any further so that communities can rebuild schools, roads and utilities, families can get back on their feet, and our small businesses and farmers can stay afloat,” Murray said. “As we receive further updates from the agencies from their ongoing assessments, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the remaining weeks of this Congress to develop and pass a bipartisan disaster package that addresses this request and other critical disaster needs to meet the demands.” Communities across the country face urgent challenges.”
Last updated on November 18, 2024 at 4:59 p.m
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