Written by James Varney, RealClearInvestigation
Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Congress last month Officials said they had set aside $4 billion in a disaster relief fund, but they also warned that the fund could be $6 billion short by the end of the year, and FEMA said it was in the midst of a $4 billion shortfall in the aftermath of Hurricane Helen. It is said that it is likely to get worse.
As FEMA is expected to ask Congress for new funding, budget experts are noticing a surprising fact. FEMA currently has untapped reserves from decades of past disasters.
August report A rapporteur with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General noted that FEMA “estimated that 847 disaster declarations with approximately $73 billion in unliquidated funds remain outstanding” in 2022.
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When OIG took a closer look at the data, it found that $8.3 billion of that total came from disasters declared before 2012.
According to the IG’s report, these developments are part of a larger pattern of FEMA’s failure to terminate certain grant programs “within a specified period known as the period of implementation (POP).” It is said that there is. These projects currently represent billions of dollars in unliquidated expenditures that could be returned to the DRF (Disaster Relief Fund). ”
These “unliquidated obligations” reflect the complex federal budgeting process. Budget experts say safeguards are important to ensure that FEMA funds don’t become a slush fund that FEMA can use as it pleases, but the inability to tap into funds left unspent in long-ago crises makes it difficult for FEMA to respond to impending disasters. The ability to respond has become more complex.
“Age Old Game”
“This is a game that’s been played for many years, regardless of which administration we’re in,” said Brian Kavanaugh, who served as FEMA’s appropriations director in the Trump administration. “It is unfortunate that disaster relief is becoming more complex, but its costs are rising.”
Kavanaugh said FEMA operates under the type of continuing resolutions that Congress routinely authorizes, so no action from Congress or executive order from the White House is needed to access these funds. said. If this money is part of “urgently needed funds,” then Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas could withdraw billions in unused funds to assist Helen victims and then They told lawmakers they were forced to do so, and the elected officials could face the charges they sought to pursue. Penny when Americans were in despair.
FEMA did not respond to a request for comment on whether it has access to designated funds.
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Mayorkas, whose department oversees FEMA, emphasized that the agency is not bankrupt, and he and other FEMA officials said this week that they have enough to meet the needs of victims of Hurricane Helen, which has an even higher death toll. He said the money is in a disaster relief fund. The 200-plus number makes it the deadliest storm to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Most of Helen’s bills are due in the future, and Mayorkas said FEMA is currently able to meet day-to-day operational needs in the affected states, but that could be difficult if a storm like Helen hits again this year. He said that there is a sex. Hurricane season officially lasts until the end of November, but historically September and October have been the months when monsters occasionally hit the United States.
“We are meeting immediate needs with the funds we have,” Mayorkas said at a press conference on Air Force One on October 2. “We’re expecting another hurricane. We don’t have the money. FEMA doesn’t have the money to get us through the season and we don’t know what’s coming.”
On October 3, FEMA, which handles state and local relief assistance, federal flood insurance programs and individual emergency requests, spent at least $20 million in three states: North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Helen’s brunt Like when it washed ashore last week. The numbers provided by FEMA do not include Georgia, which was hit hard by Helen, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on September 26.
Longtime FEMA critics say the impending shortage is not surprisinggiven that its primary job is to use federal taxpayer funds to reimburse state and local recovery costs, in addition to the more immediate funds it provides to victims on an individual basis.
“It doesn’t seem too strange,” said Chris Edwards, a policy scholar at the conservative Cato Institute. “While $20 million is insignificant at this point, it’s not necessarily unreasonable to think future bills will be much higher.”
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Rising costs
Rising costs related to disaster recovery are one of the main factors in FEMA’s anticipated budget crisis. Last year, the U.S. had 28 record-breaking storms that caused more than $1 billion in damage, and 19 of them reached the $1 billion threshold by 2024. Since 2001, FEMA has come close to running out of money nine times. It eliminated disaster relief funds and forced the suspension of hundreds of non-lifesaving services run by government agencies.
Millions of people entering the country illegally during Biden’s term have led to unprecedented price increases for some services, including those related to immigration assistance. FEMA spent Over $640 million Those programs are scheduled for 2024 and led to criticism this week from Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and others.
FEMA disputed this claim, arguing that these amounts did not come from disaster relief funds. But as Mr. Kavanaugh, Mr. Edwards, and others have pointed out, the relief fund is not the primary driver of FEMA’s spending, but rather is primarily used to reimburse state and local agencies for tasks such as debris removal and repair of roads and power grids. be.
Until now, FEMA has Various reviews are received Award from elected officials for the response to Hurricane Helen in the affected state. Five state officials in North Carolina’s hard-hit Buncombe County did not respond to RCI’s questions, but some Tar Heel residents have complained about RCI’s transparency in media reports.
FEMA rarely awards or administers contracts to clear debris, restore power or search for survivors, but it does provide emergency cash to attack victims who apply. Flood insurance protection is provided through a federal program run by FEMA, not through private homeowners insurance.
“Crazy” numbers
FEMA typically works with state or local officials and neutral third-party civil engineers to estimate the cost of such work, and the final amount is arrived at through negotiation. But given that these settlements are in the distant future, they should have nothing to do with FEMA’s current budget.
“It’s just incredible how high the numbers have gotten,” said Jeremy Portnoy of Open the Books, a nonpartisan government spending watchdog. “They have been warning for months that they are running out of money.”
Mr. Portnoy first called for caution. FEMA unspent funds In a conversation with RealClear Investigation on Sept. 8, he said federal officials are adding billions of dollars to the disaster relief fund, even though they have enough funds to make up for the expected shortfall. , said it seemed strange not to be able to take advantage of it.
“The money is just sitting there,” Portnoy said. “They say they don’t have enough money, but when you put that side by side with over $8 billion, why not spend it now in Florida and other places?”
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“Unliquidated obligations” remain on FEMA’s books because FEMA “subjectively” extended deadlines for some projects. The 2012 Superstorm Sandy deadline has been extended to 2026.
“As a result, the longer the program continues, the greater the potential risks of fraud, waste, and abuse,” the DHS report concludes.
While DHS could conceivably reach out to such outstanding obligations to help restore order in areas ravaged by Helen, experts say bureaucrats will likely have to wait until budget negotiations approach and It noted that it is unwilling to resort to such tactics, as it does when the fiscal year ends this month.
“A washed away bridge is not something FEMA has to pay for tomorrow,” Kavanaugh said.
Syndicated with permission From Real Clear Wire.
