Lawmakers Say Latest $44 Billion Storm Aid Package Needs to Be Bigger
November 17 2017 - 4:25PM
Dow Jones News
By Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers from both parties said the White House's
latest request for emergency disaster-relief funds falls far short
of what is needed to recover from this year's devastating storms,
and braced for a political fight over how to pay for it.
In its funding request Friday, its third to date, the White
House asked for $44 billion in emergency disaster relief and
suggested trimming federal spending by $59 billion to offset the
cost of the aid, a step that could ignite a congressional fight
over whether disaster relief has to be paired with budget cuts
elsewhere.
Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said in a letter to congressional
leaders that the White House would be requesting additional funds
later to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands recover from
Hurricane Maria, but that more time was needed to assess the damage
there.
Congress has already approved almost $52 billion in disaster
relief. Mr. Mulvaney said in his letter that the administration
believes it is "prudent to offset new spending," and that it wants
to work with lawmakers to find the best way to do that.
The two biggest chunks of the disaster-relief request sent to
Congress Friday are $25 billion for the Federal Emergency
Management Agency's disaster-relief fund and $12 billion for flood
mitigation projects.
Even before the White House had officially sent its request,
senior Republicans from Texas were criticizing it as insufficient.
In a hearing Thursday evening, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn
(R., Texas) called the request "wholly inadequate." Texas Gov. Greg
Abbott has requested $61 billion in assistance, which Mr. Cornyn
supports, an aide said.
Democrats said the request didn't come close to what would be
needed, particularly for Puerto Rico, which is struggling to
restore power and rebuild. Puerto Rico is asking Congress for $94.4
billion to rebuild.
"This request does not come close to what local officials say is
needed, " said Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the
House Appropriations Committee, in a statement Friday.
Democrats also objected to the administration's proposal to curb
federal spending by $59 billion to offset the cost of the emergency
aid, including $1 billion in federal highway funding and $44
billion from extending mandatory spending limits, known as the
sequester, for two additional years on nonmilitary spending.
Lawmakers have opted in the past to extend sequester cuts in the
future, while repeatedly voting to raise spending in the short
term. Congressional leaders are currently in discussions with the
White House about raising spending caps for the rest of fiscal year
2018.
The White House proposal to offset the third batch of disaster
aid is likely to ignite a debate on Capitol Hill. Republicans have
often pressed to cut spending elsewhere so that disaster aid
doesn't add to the federal budget deficit, but the previous two
batches of disaster aid passed by Congress this year weren't
offset.
Rep. Mark Walker (R., N.C.), chairman of the Republican Study
Committee, a group of about 150 House Republicans, raised concerns
over the last installment of disaster aid adding to the
deficit.
Democrats have traditionally argued that emergency spending
doesn't need to be offset and they criticized Republicans for
proposing trims while they are working to pass a tax overhaul that
could add $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years. The
tax rewrite passed the House on Thursday and is expected to come to
the Senate floor later this month.
With the tax bill adding to the deficit, "it is galling that the
Administration is requesting offsets in exchange for helping
Americans rebuild their lives," Ms. Lowey said Friday.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Natalie Andrews at Natalie.Andrews@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 17, 2017 16:10 ET (21:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.