Did Congress Replinish the Disaster Relief Fund?

Yes, but Emergency Disaster Relief Was Included in a Messaging Bill the House Rejected the Week Before

Once again, there are variations of a post on Facebook and Twitter related to disaster relief that need further explanation than what gets passed around through shares and retweets.

There are three recent votes that relate to disaster relief. The first was on the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY 2024, H.R. 2882. This is the omnibus bill that became law in March 2024, and it funded the federal government through September 30, 2024. The bill provided $20.2 billion in base disaster relief funding and another $15.5 billion in emergency disaster relief funding. The legislation was passed by the House through H.Res. 1102 by a vote of 286 to 134. More Republicans voted against the bill than those who voted for it. Over in the Senate, H.R. 2882 passed by a vote of 74 to 24. Twenty-two of the votes against the bill came from Republicans.

In September 2024, the House considered a six-month continuing resolution (CR), H.R. 9494. The legislation included other legislative language, including the SAVE Act, the extension of authorities and programs, and emergency funding for disaster relief. The bill would’ve provided $20 billion in base disaster relief funding FEMA received in FY 2024, and another $10 billion in emergency disaster relief (see Section 129).

H.R. 9494 failed on the House floor by a vote of 202 to 220. Two voted “present.” Most of the votes against the CR came from Democrats because of the inclusion of the SAVE Act, and the fact that the bill was dead on arrival in the Senate if it cleared the House, but three Democrats did vote for the bill. Fourteen Republicans voted against the CR primarily due to process concerns and spending levels. Keep in mind that discretionary outlays account for 26.4 percent of all federal spending.

Finally, there’s the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act for FY 2025. H.R. 9747. This is the CR for FY 2025 that became law and runs through December 20, 2024. Although this CR does provide the $20.2 billion in base disaster relief funding for FEMA, it didn’t include any emergency disaster relief. However, some provisions of the bill do allow FEMA to obligate funding for disaster relief while providing no additional emergency disaster relief funding. H.R. 9747 passed the House by a vote of 342 to 82 and the Senate by a vote of 78 to 18. You can click on the links to see how each member voted.

Why was emergency disaster relief funding included in H.R. 9494 and not H.R. 9747? I don’t know. I haven’t explored it or asked around. My guess is it’s because adding disaster relief funding would’ve increased the number of Republican votes against H.R. 9747. Again, though, that’s only a guess.

We’re still in October, so FEMA hasn’t posted a monthly report for the Disaster Relief Fund, but it has posted an updated report since my last post on the matter. The one I used for my post earlier this week was for August. The most recent report showed a balance of $2.4 billion. The prorated portion of that base disaster relief funding through December 20 is $608 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Plus, FEMA now has the authority to obligate funds. That’ll help since it doesn’t look like Congress will return until the week after the election.