Budd, Tillis & Edwards lead bipartisan group requesting more funding for hurricane victims

Republican North Carolina US Sens. Ted Budd, Thom Tillis, and Congressman Chuck Edwards, NC-11, are leading a bipartisan group of members of the Senate and House in sending a letter to President Joe Biden requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), “immediately send a supplemental appropriation request to Congress to support the communities we represent, which were devastated after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.”

Senators Tim Kaine, D-VA, Mark Warner, D-VA, Jon Ossoff, D-GA, and Raphael Warnock, D-GA, and Representatives Richard Hudson, R-NC-09, Patrick McHenry, R-NC-10, Greg Murphy R, NC-03, David Rouzer, R-NC-07, Buddy Carter, R-GA, and Morgan Griffith. R-VA signed on to the letter.

Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26, followed by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9. Both storms left 261 people dead and caused billions of dollars of damage, with Helene causing an estimated $250 billion in damages across several states, including North Carolina. Hurricane Milton has caused an estimated $50 billion in damages.

“OMB plays an important role in consolidating the needs of various states and affected federal agencies in declared disaster zones,” the letter states. “In past disasters, OMB worked quickly to assemble and transmit the administration’s disaster supplemental request. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25. and OMB sent a supplemental request to Congress only one week later, on September 1.”

The congressional contingent said that after Hurricane Irma made landfall on Sept. 6, 2017, OMB sent a supplemental request to Congress less than a month later on Oct. 4.  They said that after seven weeks since the hurricane,OMB still has not transmitted a request to Congress.

“We stand ready to work with you and our Congressional colleagues to pass significant disaster relief so that the road to long-term recovery can begin,” the letter concludes. “Our constituents do not have the luxury of waiting any longer. They need help now.”

Last Thursday, US Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, blocked a unanimous consent vote in the Senate on legislation Tillis introduced last month that would refill the now depleted Small Business Administration’s disaster relief loan program, which ran out of money on Oct. 15.

The Restoring an Economic Lifeline with Immediate Emergency Funding (Relief) Act would appropriate $550 million to fund the SBA Disaster Loan Program Account, which would provide $2.475 billion in lending capacity projected to last until the end of 2024.

Tillis told the senators that thousands in that part of the state won’t have drinkable water until August 2025.

“A lot of these people lost loved ones, and they are trying to keep their businesses afloat while they are going to funerals,” he said.  “And we tell them we have to wait for Congress before we can send you a check. Because for the first time in this body, we are going to demand a pay for disaster recovery?”

It has also been reported that more than 1,500 Helene victims in western North Carolina are still living in hotels.

“When I tell you it’s a crisis in North Carolina when a major lifeline of I-40 is going to be down for years,” Tillis stated.  “I can’t tell people just because I don’t like the way it gets appropriated, it sucks for you. You may have to go out of business while I try to fix the dysfunction in Washington. This is a time to act like we do every time with a disaster supplemental.”

Paul argued that if they passed the bill the way Tillis wanted, they would have to borrow and spend another $810 million, something that US shouldn’t be doing right now as it is $2 trillion in debt, and the interest will be another trillion.

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