(09-27) 14:13 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) -- New York Corporate Housing
Faced with the imminent possibility of running out of money this
week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency scoured every financial
nook and cranny to come up with enough money to keep its disaster relief
fund in the black for a few more days. Congress has been fighting over
possible fixes.
The search yielded about $40 million left over from projects to
rebuild infrastructure damaged disasters that occurred before August's
Hurricane Irene. The newly found cash, announced Monday, means the
agency's disaster aid arm will likely be solvent until the end of the
budget year on Friday. As of Tuesday, FEMA had about $175 million
available and spends an average of about $35 million a day.
Rachel Racusen, a FEMA spokeswoman, said the search for cash is
nothing new for FEMA. Officials have found about $180 million this month
and nearly $2 billion this fiscal year.
"Our goal has always been to extend the balance of the Disaster
Relief Fund for as long as possible," Racusen said. "Without these
recoveries ... FEMA would have run out of disaster funding this week,
forcing us to begin shutting down disaster response operations."
FEMA has been trying to avoid such a shutdown since August. It
stepped up its efforts to find extra money in the wake of Hurricane
Irene in late August.
For weeks, Democrats in Congress have been pushing for more disaster
aid and had been asking for a $3.7 billion deal, which would include $1
billion for remainder of this budget year.
Republicans insisted that deal would require $1 billion in offsetting
cuts in Energy Department loan programs favored by Democrats.
Then FEMA announced Monday that it would have enough money to last
the week, eliminating the impasse. Now the agency is likely to get $2.65
billion as part of a continuing resolution that would keep the
government funded until November 18.
Besides hunting in old disaster accounts for extra money, the agency
also put limits on spending for some recovery projects, including
infrastructure repairs from disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and
Rita that hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. In late August, FEMA Director
Craig Fugate announced that the agency would limit disaster aid money to
"immediate needs," including repaying states for debris removal and
giving individual victims financial help.
The move meant that about $400 million in public assistance projects was put on hold.
Earlier this month, the Obama administration also asked Congress for $500 million in emergency funding.
If the funding bill is passed, FEMA expects to resume funding both new and old disaster projects.