Conservatives Want to Slash FEMAs Disaster Budget

[demmiblue]

Source: Mother Jones

One of the worst winter tornado outbreaks in US history ravaged parts of the South last month, leveling homes and buildings and killing at least 20 people across Mississippi and Georgia. In total, 79 tornadoes ripped through seven states. Last week, seven tornadoes touched down in southern Louisiana, injuring 41 people. As officials and residents dug through the rubble, affected states began requesting aid from the federal government, standard practice in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Reconstruction is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. But if an influential conservative think tank gets its way, federal funding for future disasters may be cut sharply—even as disasters themselves become more frequent.

The proposal to cut disaster aid was part of a lengthy report released last year by the Heritage Foundation. Dubbed a Blueprint for Balance, the document argued that the federal government can save $10.5 trillion over the next decade by slashing funds for some programs and eliminating others. The blueprint calls for a funding cut for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Relief Fund, the primary mechanism through which states receive federal aid after natural disasters. It would shift the majority of the costs to state and local governments.

The Heritage Foundation is extremely influential in the world of conservative politics, and the Trump administration appears ready to lean on the think tank for policy ideas. Donald Trump's transition team was stacked with advisers from Heritage, and the organization helped the president compile a list of potential Supreme Court picks. The Hill reported in January that a series of massive budget cuts being considered by the Trump administration "hew closely" to the Heritage budget blueprint.

Currently, federal disaster aid is governed by the Stafford Act. Passed in 1988, the law authorizes the president to issue emergency or major disaster declarations at the request of a governor, before and after a catastrophe occurs. Those declarations then trigger aid to rebuild infrastructure and protect public health. FEMA incurs 75 percent of the disaster relief costs, and states pick up the rest of the tab. In recent years, when a disaster depleted FEMA's budget—after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, for example—Congress passed supplemental appropriations to cover the costs.

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/01/fema-disaster-funding

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Yeah, good idea. Because we all know that everyone

who lives within a disaster area has only himself(herself) to blame.

[SoCalNative]

2. The conservatives ALWAYS vote against providing monies for disaster relief/aid

unless it happens in THEIR state or district. Then their hands are out begging for money.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Good, the Senators and Reps can begin by declining FEMA funds for

their own states.

[raccoon]

4. Amen to that! the dumbass hypocrites want the aid for THEIR areas. nt

[kimbutgar]

5. Then if this occurs I hope there is a massive increase in natural disaster in solid red areas

When they learn that government used be there for them but now since they voted for rethugs with the mantra "government is problem" they are on their own. But of course, silly me,if they didn't hear it on fox blame Obama and the Democrats. Remember how they blamed Obama for the Katrina response?

That big dam failing in California is in sold red parts of the state! I know the cartoon President will ignore the state and not declare it a emergency disaster.