Florida lawmakers spearhead bipartisan push to refill dwindling FEMA Disaster Relief Fund

Marco Rubio image via AP. Jared Moskowitz image via Jared Moskowitz.

Hurricane season is a bad time for federal disaster relief funding to run dry, but that’s exactly what will happen without legislative action.

Now a bipartisan group of Washington lawmakers from Florida are working to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz have introduced measures in their respective chambers (S 2029, HR 4295) to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund.

The legislation would provide $11.5 billion in supplemental funding. Without the apportionment, the fund will be more than $10 billion in deficit by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

As it stands, the fund — used to respond to major disasters nationwide, from hurricanes and tornadoes to wildfires and earthquakes — is on track to run out of money in August, according to FEMA’s most recent funding report.

Hurricane season in Florida runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, though the strongest storms to strike the peninsula have frequently come in August or after. Last year, Hurricane Ian struck the state’s southwestern coast as a Category 5 storm on Sept. 28. Hurricane Michael made landfall in the panhandle as a Category 5 in October 2018, and Hurricane Irma hit Florida at Category 3 strength in early September 2017.

If Congress doesn’t act to refill the fund, there will be no federal money for unforeseen disasters until the end of the fiscal year.

In a statement accompanying the filing of his bill — to which fellow Republican U.S. Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Roger Wicker of Mississippi signed on as cosponsors — Rubio said President Joe Biden “failed to take the necessary steps” to ensure the federal government is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to natural disasters this year.

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

Moskowitz, who is sponsoring the bill with James Moylan, the Republican delegate to Guam, took a less partisan tack in explaining the bill’s importance. Prior to running for Congress, the freshman U.S. Representative served as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management during the harshest waves of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have to be proactive. We know this fund is going to run out. How can FEMA operate if we are always being reactionary?” he said in a statement. “Emergency management cannot be politicized and should always be prioritized. I’m encouraged to see there is still bipartisan interest in solving this problem and I look forward to working together to get the appropriate funding to the Disaster Relief Fund.”

Moylan, who called Moskowitz “a bipartisan team player who understands disaster relief,” said he’s reached out to Biden to help get the measure passed. Both he and Moskowitz are seeking additional co-sponsors while working with Rubio, Scott and Wicker on generating support on Capitol Hill, his office said in a statement.

“Considering the stated figure the measure proposes to be appropriated, there will certainly be challenges with this measure,” Moylan said. “Our belief is (it) is inevitable that Congress replenishes the Disaster Relief Fund, but the question is by how much and in what approach.”