Press Releases

Sen. Rick Scott: Rumored Disaster Aid in CR isn’t Enough, Senate Must Pass My Disaster Relief Bill

September 26, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, after months of fighting to secure disaster relief funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), Senator Rick Scott released the following statement demanding passage of his Federal Disaster Responsibility Act. This bill would fund FEMA’s DRF with $16.5 billion in addition to any funding the DRF receives in a continuing resolution, and deliver urgently needed disaster aid to America’s growers and ranchers. Reporting from earlier this month suggested that the continuing resolution being crafted behind closed doors by Senate leadership would provide $20 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, $16 billion less than the agency has said it needs for disaster response and recovery efforts.

 

Last week, Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse blocked Senator Scott’s request on the Senate floor to schedule a vote on his bill because it didn’t have Ukraine aid. With Senator Whitehouse’s objection, Senate Democrats denied the Senate an opportunity to vote on and pass this bill.

 

Senator Rick Scott said, “For months, Senate Democrats have stood in the way of my commonsense legislation to make sure that FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund is fully funded and American growers and ranchers can access the block grants they need to recover from natural disasters. Democrats said no to this proposal again last week when I asked on the Senate floor for a simple vote on this bill. Here’s the deal—Florida families aren’t taking no for an answer and neither am I. I’ve heard rumors that the continuing resolution will have $20 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund. That’s $16 billion less than what FEMA has told us it needs to be whole and continue showing up for disasters. That's why my bill would authorize additional funding—on top of whatever funding is in the CR—so we can deliver urgently needed supplemental disaster funding for families in Florida, California, Hawaii and other states recently impacted by disasters, as well as block grants for American farmers. FEMA said it needs $36 billion and anything less than that is simply inadequate and will cause more pain for hardworking Americans. I will not yield to more Washington dysfunction. I will raise hell until the Senate does right by American families and puts Americans above foreign aid and votes on my commonsense disaster relief bill.”

 

Senator Scott’s Federal Disaster Responsibility Act includes:

  • Fully funding the immediate needs of FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund with at least $16.5 billion more than would be included in a continuing resolution to ensure the federal government can uphold its obligation to quickly deploy emergency funding and resources to communities and Americans impacted by natural disasters. This exceeds what the Biden administration has said is needed to respond to recent disasters, including those in Florida and Hawaii.
  • Ensuring final passage of the bipartisan Block Grant Assistance Act which provides needed authority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue block grants to Florida’s citrus growers, Georgia’s peach growers and all U.S. agriculture producers devastated by natural disasters in 2022.
  • Committing necessary funds and resources to Florida’s military installations to fully rebuild and recover from hurricane damage and to the Army Corps of Engineers to complete beach renourishment projects.

 

MORE HERE… See below for additional actions Senator Rick Scott has taken in preparation for and response to Hurricane Idalia:

 

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