Rubio, Scott Call on FEMA for Expedited Reimbursements to Local Government for Hurricane Recovery

Rubio, Scott Call on FEMA for Expedited Reimbursements to Local Government for Hurricane Recovery

Jackson Bakich
Jackson Bakich
|
October 5, 2024

Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) have sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell requesting that affected local governments receive timely reimbursements from past hurricanes – including Helene and Debby. According to Sen. Rubio, some local governments are experiencing budget shortfalls, which could affect current and future disaster recovery efforts.

An expedited reimbursement to these local governments could go a long way, according to the senators.

However, this request from Sens. Rubio and Scott comes at a time in which the Biden-Harris administration has been called out for misusing FEMA’s resources on behalf of illegal immigrants instead of American citizens.

For instance, after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently announced that FEMA does not have the necessary funds to provide aid throughout hurricane season, AG Moody criticized the Biden-Harris administration, going as far as to accuse them of “laundering” taxpayer money for migrants as hundreds of millions of FEMA dollars have been used for migrant programs.

Regardless, Sens. Rubio and Scott thanked FEMA Administrator Criswell for the agency’s efforts in their letter.

“Thank you for your efforts, to date, in response to Hurricane Helene. Following the landfall of Hurricane Helene on September 26, 2024, some affected county and municipal governments in Florida face looming budget shortfalls that could severely disrupt ongoing disaster response and recovery efforts. In light of these challenges, we write to request you expedite outstanding reimbursements to local governments affected by Hurricanes [Irma, Michael, Ian, and Idalia],” wrote Rubio and Scott.

They continued, mentioning that expedited payments could affect the local government’s ability to “pay wages, overtime, and other up-front expenses” surrounding disaster response.

“Given the devastation in Florida, municipal budget shortfalls could further exacerbate the challenges our communities are facing. Delivering outstanding FEMA reimbursements for costs associated with past storms will help provide the budget flexibilities needed for a robust response to Helene. Thank you for your attention to this important matter,” Rubio and Scott concluded.

More than 200 people have died from Hurricane Helene and its effects as it made landfall in Florida and swept into Appalachia, hitting the hardest in the ill-prepared region.

Related Posts

Jackson Bakich

Jackson Bakich

Born in Orlando but raised in Lake County, Florida, Jackson Bakich is currently a senior at Florida State University. Growing up in the sunshine state, Bakich co-hosted the political talk radio show "Lake County Roundtable" (WLBE) and was a frequent guest for "Lake County Sports Show" (WQBQ). Currently, he is the Sports Editor of the FSView and the co-host of "Tomahawk Talk" (WVFS), a sports talk radio program covering Florida State athletics in Tallahassee.

Subscribe to the newsletter everyone in Florida is reading.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign up for BREAKING NEWS ALERTS

More Related Posts