FEMA can tap several billion dollars in additional funds without turning to Congress. FEMA has plenty of money this time

Hurricane relief has been a nasty political football on Capitol Hill in the past.

But this time around – thanks to a confluence of several factors – the federal government has plenty of money to cover the costs in the short run as Hurricane Sandy barrels her way up the East Coast.


( PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy)

Nearly $7.8 billion is available for storm response through FEMA’s disaster relief fund, congressional aides said Monday. That includes more than $7 billion set aside in the stopgap spending bill that funds the federal government through March, as well as money designated for disaster relief carried over from last year that was not spent. On top of that — thanks to the debt limit deal last year — FEMA can tap a several billion dollars in additional emergency funds without turning to Congress for extra money.

And regardless of the ideology regarding how to pay for disaster aid, the hurricane is serving as a great equalizer, hitting states represented by a wide range of prominent politicians — with Eric Cantor in Virginia, Chris Christie in New Jersey, and Andrew Cuomo in New York.

( See also: Complete coverage of Hurricane Sandy)

“We have plenty of cash in the short term … but we will watch very closely,” said a Senate Democratic aide. “We will not want to end the 112th Congress without making sure the disaster relief fund is sound for fiscal year 2013.”

FEMA administrator Craig Fugate was also confident that his agency was sufficiently equipped.

( Also on POLITICO: Could Sandy postpone the election?)

“We have the funds to respond,” Fugate told reporters on a conference call Monday. “We have the funds to continue response to recovery of previous disasters and we’ll assess the impacts to determine any additional funding needs based on the impacts of Hurricane Sandy.”

A shored-up disaster relief fund and changes to the way that disaster aid is administered could help Capitol Hill avoid a replay of a bitter political fight that exploded last year over the response to Hurricane Irene. In September 2011, Republicans insisted that money allocated for hurricane relief be offset, and proposed paying for aid by slashing funds to an auto-industry loan program – infuriating Hill Democrats. The discussion over offsetting disaster aid also came up after the devastating tornadoes last year in Joplin, Mo. In 2005 with Hurricane Katrina, conservative members of Congress questioned the huge sums going to disaster relief without cutting the government elsewhere to pay for it.

Because Hurricane Sandy is hitting the country at the beginning of the fiscal 2013 budget year, the disaster relief fund is still flush with cash. A relatively lighter storm season last fiscal year meant that unused money was carried over to this year. It also doesn’t hurt that the East Coast areas that will be affected by Hurricane Sandy are represented by a mix of Republican and Democratic lawmakers — as well as governors from both parties — making disaster relief a more bipartisan issue.

And Congress has about $11 billion to spend for disaster relief — a figure that is calculated using a 10-year rolling average for disaster aid – without needing emergency supplemental legislation. Once FEMA drains the $7 billion in the disaster relief fund, lawmakers can tap the rest of the money. This mechanism was a change included in the Budget Control Act.

“The federal government must prioritize our spending, and one of the highest priorities should be major disaster relief when no other relief is available,” said Rory Cooper, a spokesman for Cantor, the House majority leader (R-Va.).

“One of the reasons House Republicans insisted on reforming the disaster funding process, which we did as part of the Budget Control Act, was so that we would have a separate dedicated pot of money available based on historical disaster needs,” Cooper added. “We also provided that should a disaster exceed that capacity, Congress and the president could provide additional emergency funds.”

To be sure, there is no way to determine the final cost of the storm before the brunt of Sandy hits, and leadership aides in both chambers cautioned that it was too premature to determine whether additional funds beyond the FEMA’s disaster relief fund would be necessary.

The first round of preliminary estimates caused by Sandy wouldn’t be due for 30 to 60 days after the storm, a congressional aide said. That could push any discussions about additional funding for hurricane relief into the lame-duck session.

A FEMA spokesperson said it would be a while before the agency can get precise estimates of Sandy’s damage.

“We will not be able to get assessments back from the field until some time after the storm passes through,” the spokesperson said. “Preliminary Disaster Assessment Teams will not commence work until the response phase has concluded.”

One congressional Democratic aide noted that widespread damage was expected in districts represented by lawmakers of all political stripes, which could help limit political fights over disaster funding.

“If the damage is as bad as they say it is, I think this will hopefully be a nonpartisan issue,” said the aide.

Particularly in the heat of campaign season, Republican strategists are warning that being too quick to discuss offsetting disaster aid could prove to be a political loser.

“They can’t get into that policy right now,” said GOP strategist Ron Bonjean, a former top congressional aide. “It could be very politically dangerous.”

Alex Guillen contributed to this report.

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