FEMA disaster relief fund close to running out of money — just as hurricane season kicks into high gear

Just as hurricane season begins its peak period, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund will run out of money.

Without action to replenish it, FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund will be depleted in August — and remain dry until the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

The Disaster Relief Fund is used to respond to major disasters around the country. It provides money to state and local governments to help pay for cleanup and rebuilding after events such as hurricanes and wildfires, and to individuals and families after those kinds of disasters.

The peak of the hurricane season is Sept. 10, according to the National Hurricane Center, with most storm activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said at a congressional hearing earlier this year that the nation is “facing a really unprecedented time” in terms of the number of disasters it is experiencing.

“In 2022 alone we saw multiple record-breaking events” she said. “I fear that this is going to be the way of the future.”

Bipartisan push

With the U.S. House controlled by Republicans and the Senate controlled by Democrats, fixing the shortfall requires cooperation between the two parties.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat who represents coastal South Florida, have introduced bills (S.2029 and H.R.4295) to add an infusion of cash into the Disaster Relief Fund.

Their measures would add $11.5 billion to the fund.

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Without the money, Moskowitz warned, there won’t be funds that can be immediately used for major disasters. As a former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Moskowitz has experience in disaster recovery and FEMA funding.

“We have to be proactive. We know this fund is going to run out. How can FEMA operate if we are always being reactionary? FEMA provides life-saving resources to areas impacted by disasters all around the nation,” Moskowitz said in a written statement.

The Democrat said he was “encouraged to see there is still bipartisan interest in solving this problem.” He is working in the House with Republican James Moylan, who is Guam’s nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House. Guam is vulnerable to typhoons.

In the Senate, Rubio’s legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and two other coastal-state Republicans whose states are vulnerable to hurricanes, U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

“Floridians know that responding to natural disasters is a team effort, which requires every level of government to be ready to assist families in need at a moment’s notice,” Scott said in a statement. When Scott was Florida governor for eight years until January 2019, he was the face of state government in the aftermath of hurricanes and other disasters.

He said in a statement that the added money is needed so the “the federal government can uphold its obligation to quickly deploy emergency funding and resources to communities and Americans impacted by natural disasters.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Broward Democrat and senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, said the funding is essential.

“As a Floridian, I know we are on the front line in our battle against a changing climate because we live it. Congress must ensure that our states have the resources needed as hurricane season bears down on us and wildfires burn across the country,” Wasserman Schultz said via email. “As an Appropriator, I have been working to secure emergency supplemental funding before the fund runs dry, particularly for the Florida citrus industry, which is still trying to recover from Hurricane Ian.”

Politics

All Americans benefit from disaster assistance, but the subject often produces political back-and-forth between Democrats and Republicans, something Moskowitz decried.

“Emergency management cannot be politicized and should always be prioritized,” he said.

The Washington-based news organization Roll Call reported this week that “political dynamics following the caps in the debt limit law could imperil the chances of swift passage of an emergency supplemental. Specifically, lawmakers in both parties are expected to eye any moving spending bill as an opportunity to fund their priorities, from Ukraine military assistance to aid for migrants crossing the southern border.”

Rubio blamed President Joe Biden for the current situation.

“Congress cannot allow the Biden Administration to use disaster funding as a bargaining chip, doing so puts countless vulnerable communities at risk. Our communities deserve better than this,” Rubio said in a statement.

Wasserman Schultz said responsibility lies elsewhere. “Our urgent need for funding makes it even more concerning that radical House Republicans are pushing for funding cuts to important relief programs, setting us up for an even worse situation next year” she said.

Timing

The exact date when the fund exhausts its appropriation is unclear, except that it comes at a crucial point in the Atlantic hurricane season.

In April, FEMA leader Criswell told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security that the fund would be out of money after July.

“Our current projections are we will not have enough money in the disaster relief fund past July to support the ongoing obligations for current recovery efforts,” Criswell said at the April hearing. Without a replenishment, that means delayed payments. “We will put mechanisms in place to delay reimbursements for some of the recovery operations to ensure I have enough funding to support immediate response actions for lifesaving, life-sustaining efforts if there’s another catastrophic event.”

Her agency’s monthly report on the disaster fund released in early June showed it would be depleted in August, with a shortfall of $2.7 billion by the end of the month with the shortfall topping $10 billion by the end of September. (The July report hadn’t been released as of Friday and FEMA didn’t respond to a request for an update.)

Rubio’s office reported last month that the fund was expected to run out in the first week in August.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com, on Twitter @browardpolitics and on Post.news/@browardpolitics.