Both the House and Senate approved the 3-month CR yesterday and then promptly left town. While it's great news that we will avoid the unnecessary disruption of another government shutdown (at least for now), Congress has yet again failed to complete work on the annual budget cycle by the end of the fiscal year.
The CR includes $21 billion (the same amount provided in FY24) for the DRF with "an anomaly." The anomaly allows FEMA to spend the entire amount as operationally required rather than having to apportion it out for the length of the CR. As highlighted in the Politico story below, $21 billion will almost certainly not be enough to fund the INF backlog (~$10 billion), fund ongoing projects, and handle incoming storms. In fact, we could very possibly see a return to INF before the end of the calendar year.
For more context about the CR and the DRF, check out the story below from Politico…
--------------------------------------------------
A LOOMING FUNDING DISASTER?
Congress is on track to clear a three-month stopgap spending bill Wednesday night, leaving most lawmakers relieved to head home for the home stretch of campaign season. But not all.
A select group of lawmakers is frustrated that the continuing resolution doesn't include additional disaster relief funding that they have been seeking for their communities - and that they were hoping to secure before the election. Now they can only hope the situation gets addressed in the post-election lame duck session.
"It is very bittersweet that while we are saving the country and preventing a government shutdown, we will go home to communities that are still suffering," said Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), who represents fire-ravaged parts of Maui. "There's no adequate answer that we will have to be able to say why it was not included. And so you can just be rest assured, it is a burning passion for every one of us that we've got to get it done."
What the CR does do: The temporary measure, which passed the House Wednesday evening and is expected to clear the Senate shortly, keeps FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund at the same level negotiated for fiscal 2024, but it does allow the agency to more quickly spend down that sum in order to meet needs. The issue some lawmakers have is that they believe the roughly $20 billion allotted for fiscal 2024 won't be nearly enough in fiscal 2025.
"I'm very upset about that, because Vermont will be imperiled," Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said. "So will Hawaii, so will Texas - I mean, all these places where we've had disaster situations are going to be imperiled because we haven't replenished the fund. But in the immediate [future] it's not going to inhibit us from our efforts, but it does increase the urgency to get a comprehensive appropriation in the omnibus."
One issue that Tokuda is highlighting is that FEMA has had to pause work that's not considered "life-sustaining," such as rebuilding parts of Maui affected by last summer's wildfires. Some of any DRF refill will need to be used to cover that delayed work.
There's also a pending $4 billion supplemental request from the White House to address disaster response and recovery efforts, including to help rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed in March after being struck by a cargo ship.
Future threats: Hanging over Wednesday's CR vote was the imminent landfall of Hurricane Helene in Florida, and House and Senate leaders rushed the bill through to allow lawmakers from affected districts to return home. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla), who's facing a tough re-election in November, was one lawmaker who missed votes on Wednesday to help his state prepare.
"We're going to continue to have potentially more national disasters between now and December or into the next year," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who attended votes Wednesday. He added that a DRF refill "should have been done months ago."
Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a top appropriator who represents a hurricane-prone district in south Florida, said he was not overly concerned.
"In December, we have to pass the appropriation bills, and we're gonna have to also refill some of these pots to deal with emergencies," Díaz-Balart said. "I'm pretty confident that we're OK between now and December, but if, for some reason, that were to change - like, if it's a catastrophic event - there are ways to deal with that as well."
- Daniella Diaz, with an assist from Nicholas Wu
------------------------------
Thad Huguley
Government Affairs Director
IAEM
Falls Church VA
(615) 870-9316
------------------------------