Marco Rubio, Rick Scott raise FEMA funding concerns

An active hurricane season looms, and Florida’s Senators want answers about emergency funding.

U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott wrote a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell demanding answers on whether FEMA has the resources needed to assist people in Florida and beyond when tropical systems wreak their inevitable havoc.

“Last year, we led an effort in the Senate to fully fund FEMA’s DRF at the levels requested by your agency and the White House. It is gravely concerning to us that now, not even a year later, the Joe Biden administration is projecting another funding shortfall,” the letter reads.

“It is our understanding that your agency expects the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) to run out of funds by August 2024 and may need to activate an immediate needs funding designation as early as June. We cannot stress enough how devastating this funding shortage would be to hurricane and disaster relief efforts in Florida and across the country. FEMA’s latest monthly DRF report, issued May 7, 2024, projects a $1.359 billion deficit in its Major Declarations fund by August, growing to $6.811 billion by September. This is unacceptable going into hurricane season.”

The Senators are posing four questions to Criswell.

“What is the current funding level of the DRF, and what are the estimated monthly expenditures that are being drawn from the fund? Does FEMA still project a deficit to the DRF in August or do you expect it to occur earlier? When does FEMA expect it will need to activate an immediate needs funding designation? What level of funding does FEMA need to adequately respond to disasters during the 2024-25 hurricane season?”