Rep. Troy Carter Urges Congress to Replenish FEMA Disaster Relief Fund

Data News Staff Edited Report Last week Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) sent a bipartisan letter to House leadership and House Appropriations Committee leaders urging Congressional Action to replenish FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Kat Cammack (R-FL), and Neal Dunn (R-FL) joined Congressman Carter on this request. The DRF is the primary funding source for the federal government’s Disaster Relief Programs. It funds “Direct Disaster Programs,” which are the Individual Assistance (IA), Public Assistance (PA), and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Programs. On August 7th, FEMA announced that the DRF had become depleted and implemented Immediate Needs Funding (INF)—redirecting money from other programs to respond to the most urgent, lifesaving needs. Though FEMA can still respond to immediate disasters, implementing INF will result in stalled payments for past disasters and grant awards, potential staff furloughs, and delays in future disaster planning measures. These delayed payments put communities at risk of future disasters by halting critical disaster planning and hazard mitigation construction projects. The agency projects a DRF Deficit of over $6 billion by the end of FY2024 without supplemental appropriations. “Storms don’t discriminate and it’s more important than ever that we work together to...