Congress continues to overlook Hurricane Michael disaster relief
The latest battle over disaster funding played out last week. Democrats wanted more funding for Puerto Rico in a supplemental bill that would have applied to multiple major disasters. Republicans didn’t agree. In the end, everybody lost.
“This impasse over disaster relief funding would go away in an instant if only Republicans would do one thing: Stand up to President Donald Trump to make sure every community across America affected by natural disasters gets the funding they deserve,” Sen. Chuck Shumer, D-NY, tweeted after a speech on the Senate floor last week asking that funding be restored for Puerto Rico.
If funding isn’t passed soon, repair work on Tyndall Air Force Base, which is estimated to make up a third of Bay County’s economy, will grind to a halt on May 1, hurting both the local area and military readiness. Also in jeopardy are repairs to the local VA medical facilities, the U.S Coast Guard facility repairs and federal dollars for the schools, according to Rubio’s office.
As of April 1, the agency had pumped $1.1 billion into the area, though more than half was in the form of loans from the Small Business Administration. That money includes $31 million for debris removal and other protective measures, $140 million in individual assistance, $206 million in national flood insurance claims paid and $629 million in low-interest SBA disaster loans, that have to be paid back.
