TALLAHASSEE—In anticipation of President Donald Trump's new plan to "phase out" the nation's disaster response agency, Florida Senators are scrambling to close future gaps with a last-minute budget item pushing millions into the state's volunteer military force.
Senate budget chair Ed Hooper, a Republican, told reporters on Friday that he's worried about the Federal Emergency Management Agency disappearing—a plan Trump will enact after the 2025 hurricane season. By adding $23 million to the State Guard, Hooper hopes the volunteer force could fill the duties left by the potentially-defunct FEMA.
"We heard yesterday from our friends at Washington that after this hurricane season, there may be no more FEMA. We may be on our own someday," Hooper said, noting that it's important to have a well-funded, Florida-centered group dedicated to emergency crises because the state's National Guard could be called away "at any moment" by the president.
"I think we should all be concerned, even if they change the way they operate today," he added.
Trump has paraded his adminstration's plans to cut down on excess spending, positions, and agencies—with FEMA being his latest target. The Tuesday announcement appeared to spark the resignation of senior staff members and Jeremy Greenberg, the agency's top offical at FEMA's National Response Coordination Center.
"We want to wean off FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state level," Trump said during a news briefing in the Oval Office.
The Senate's $23 million allocation, while still significant, is far less than what Gov. Ron DeSantis had asked for in his budget proposal: he wanted $62 million, with over half of that going to recruitment and emergency management training. The Senate added it to their $298 million "sprinkle list," a last-minute tally of various projects or programs.
It's the third-largest item on their list, following the $78 million for nursing home reimbursements and the $25 million for the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund.
The Florida State Guard was created during World War II to replace the state's National Guard while they fought overseas. It was deactivated soon after the war, though DeSantis resurrected it in 2022 to help with state emergencies and shore up illegal immigration efforts.
Florida is currently pursuing punitive damages against a FEMA worker who, in the aftermath of Hurricanes Milton and Helene, instructed her disaster team to skip houses with pro-Trump merchandise.
