The Budget Deal & Puerto Rico Relief

What’s the story?

Months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands hundreds of thousands or U.S. citizens are living without power. Schools, hospitals and other basic institutions are struggling to provide services. The budget deal provided some much-needed relief, but the money appropriated must be shared across California, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S.V.I., who have all been decimated by disasters over the last year.

Previously Congress approved $15 billion in relief aid in September. In October they approved another $36.5 billion. The latest spending bill includes $89.3 billion of dedicated disaster relief, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Some of that money will go to fund federal disaster relief programs generally. $28 billion is marked for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding, a program of the Housing and Urban Development Administration, which deals with long-term recovery. $23.5 billion will be replenish the FEMA primary fund. $17.4 billion will go to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out flood mitigation and resiliency projects.

$2.7 billion will also go to schools impacted by the disasters, says the Tampa Bay Times.

But what about Puerto Rico and the U.S.V.I specifically? The Puerto Rican government has estimated that $94.4 billion would be required to rebuild Puerto Rico alone.

In the package, according to the New York Times, is $2 billion for rebuilding the two territories’ power grids. There is also $9 billion for housing and urban development projects, and $4.9 billion in Medicaid funding. Currently, Puerto Rico covers 45% of the cost of their Medicaid program, and the federal government pays the other portion. Under this deal the federal government would cover the program for two years.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the federal government approved $60 billion in disaster funding within 10 days, and $115 billion overall. Puerto Rican officials have said that this current round of funding is a start towards rebuilding.

"All of this money, it’s a starting point to initiate recovery and reconstruction,"Carlos Mercader, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington told the Times. “There’s still a lot of work to do with Congress and the administration.”

What do you think?

Do you support the disaster funding that was included in the spending package? Do you think it was too much? Too little? How do you think the federal government should prepare for what seems to be an escalating number of major disasters?

Tell us in the comments what you think, then use the Take Action button to tell your reps!

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia / Creative Commons)