HURRICANE IRENE has emerged as a new front line in the partisan budget battle in Washington, with Democrats promising to fight a pledge by a top Republican to offset any relief funds with other spending cuts.
The issue could raise thorny questions for Republicans in the House and Senate, many of whom could see federal funding for disaster relief cut off in their home districts and states if a looming budget shortfall is not settled before October 1st.
Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leader in the House, said this week that any new funds Congress set aside to deal with the hurricane, estimated to have caused billions of dollars in damage to the eastern seaboard of the US, would only be approved if matched by spending cuts in other parts of the budget. “We will find the money if there is a need for additional money. But those monies are not unlimited,” Mr Cantor said.
Traditionally, Congress has not sought to offset such emergency funds, and Democrats in the Senate lashed out at the remarks.
“The American people deserve to know critical assistance won’t be held up by petty squabbles in Washington,” said Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu, who heads the Senate appropriations subcommittee on homeland security.
Mr Cantor may find it difficult to rally unanimous support for his position among Republicans.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced that it is suspending new projects in states hit by earlier disasters to meet the immediate needs of victims of Hurricane Irene. This could have an impact on Americans hit by disasters in Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas, among others. One Republican, Peter King of New York, has already suggested it was “too early” to determine how disaster relief would be paid for.
Congressional leaders are awaiting word from the White House about whether the dwindling $772 million (€534 million) left in an emergency response fund controlled by the agency will cover immediate needs of hurricane victims until October 1st, the end of the 2011 fiscal year.
A little noticed provision in the debt ceiling legislation passed in August following a protracted debate on Capitol Hill would allow lawmakers to increase the federal disaster fund without violating a limit on spending that was included in the legislation.
A staff member for Ms Landrieu said he believed the fund might need to be increased by $10 billion. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)