The House approved on October 12, by a vote of 353-69, a supplemental spending bill that would provide $36.5 billion in funding for hurricane and wildfire relief and recovery. The bill mirrors the administration’s request and includes $18.7 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, $576.5 million for wildfire efforts, and $16 billion for debt relief for the National Flood Insurance Program. The bill also includes a provision for the Disaster Nutrition Assistance Program (DNAP), allowing low income residents of Puerto Rico to receive additional food assistance. The Senate is expected to take up the bill this week.
The supplemental aid package includes a transfer of $4.9 million out of FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to their Disaster Assistance Direct Loan Program, which would allow FEMA to provide loans to local governments in Puerto Rico for relief and recovery efforts. The spending package does not include additional funding for the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) program requested by lawmakers who represent disaster-impacted areas. House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) said, however, that “the recovery in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Texas, and Florida will be ongoing, and more assistance will be required in the near future.”
Read the text of the supplemental spending bill at: http://bit.ly/2g49BEy