The White House is requesting that Congress approve an additional $4 billion special appropriation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, on top of the $12 billion President Joe Biden already requested last month — a move that Vermont’s congressional delegation welcomed as the state continues to reel from this summer’s catastrophic flooding.
Biden is requesting a total of $16 billion to top off FEMA’s disaster relief fund, which was on track to run out of money before the end of the year, as one natural disaster after another has struck various parts of the country, according to The Associated Press. Vermont is among the states devastated by extreme weather this summer, as climate change brings natural disasters more frequently and with more fury than in years past.
FEMA’s disaster relief fund offers aid for public infrastructure and private property damaged by natural disasters. Shortly after this summer’s most severe floods struck Vermont in July, Biden approved a major disaster declaration for the state, which opened the door to those FEMA dollars.
In a joint statement Friday, Vermont’s congressional delegation — U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., as well as U.S. Rep. Becca Balint — said they were encouraged by Biden’s new request for another $4 billion to FEMA.
Still, replenishing FEMA’s coffers will not make Vermont whole. Numerous requests to the White House made by the delegation earlier this summer went unanswered in the president’s proposed supplemental budget.
“As a delegation, we’re continuing to push for the federal resources Vermont farmers, small businesses, families and communities need to recover from July’s flooding,” Sanders, Welch and Balint wrote. “The tragic natural disasters across the U.S. in the last few weeks, including flooding in our state, fires in Hawaii and Louisiana, earthquakes and storms in California, and hurricanes in Florida, Georgia, and the Southeast, show that we are all susceptible. We stand ready to work with our colleagues from impacted states around the country and get this done.”
Congress will be the ultimate decider of how much money gets doled out in this year’s special appropriations package. Members head back to Washington after Labor Day following their annual August recess.
