The Speaker’s Lobby: Natural Disasters

10/11/2018

Fox’s Chad Pergram talks about a possible spending bill to help recover after Hurricane Michael.

I’m Chad Pergram with the Speaker’s Lobby.

There’s always concern on Capitol Hill about covering the cost of two major, back-to-back natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Florence and Michael.

Some background. Imagine a pie. Slice the pie into twelve uneven pieces. Those slices represent the twelve annual spending bills which fund the government. However, on another plate, resides a thirteenth or even a fourteenth? slice. Congress routinely adds a “thirteenth” spending bill, often referred to as a “supplemental” spending package to cover big natural disasters.

Congress didn’t do a true “thirteenth” supplemental spending bill to address damage after Florence. However, lawmakers tucked 1.6 billion dollars in Florence relief into aviation bill which Congress just approved. Lawmakers also included a provision in the stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown last month. Language in that measure allowed FEMA to front-load money which may be needed for the disaster.

Fox is told FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund or “DURF” is flush with as much as $24 billion right now. Congress could approve additional money for the storms in the next big spending bill, due December 7th.

?With the Speaker’s Lobby, Chad Pergram. Fox News.

Follow Chad Pergram on Twitter: @ChadPergram