CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
May 23, 2011 – 10:38 p.m.
Deluge of Weather Disasters May Force Hill to Refill Relief Coffers
By Tim Starks, CQ Staff
The weather is not cooperating with the efforts of lawmakers and the Obama administration to restrain federal spending and reduce the budget deficit.
Congressional aides said Monday that this spring’s flooding and tornado outbreaks have increased the chances that lawmakers will need to replenish the disaster relief fund.
Even before the unusual number of natural disasters this spring, appropriators were frustrated with what they see as the Obama administration’s underbudgeting for federal response. Lawmakers beefed up disaster relief funding by $1 billion in the final fiscal 2011 appropriations package (PL 112-10), and House appropriators have added $850 million to the administration’s request for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster relief account in their draft fiscal 2012 Homeland Security spending bill.
The full House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider that measure Tuesday.
Meanwhile, tornado season continues in the Midwest, the extent of damage from the Mississippi River flooding remains uncertain and the hurricane season officially begins June 1.
“A supplemental is becoming increasingly more likely, but nobody knows any of the hard-line numbers on the tornadoes,” a House Republican aide said Monday. “Until those numbers come about, it’s unlikely we’ll see anything definitive.”
Appropriators normally await supplemental funding requests from the White House before writing legislation. The Obama administration has not yet given Congress a tally of the costs involved in the most recent disasters, nor an indication of what portion of the cost will be beyond the current funding.
The White House says it has no immediate plan to request additional fiscal 2011 funding. “We are monitoring the situation closely and will consider a supplemental request if the need arises,” said Meg Reilly, a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget.
His Senate counterpart, Democrat
An aide said Landrieu is awaiting a response from the president to her May 3 letter encouraging Obama to increase his request.
GOP lawmakers have demanded that any additional federal spending be offset with cutbacks elsewhere, but they have not indicated whether supplemental appropriations for disaster relief should trigger that requirement.
The top House Democratic appropriator,
Deluge of Weather Disasters May Force Hill to Refill Relief Coffers
Kerry Young contributed to this story.