Hurricane Ike Funding Passes Senate

All Ike Related Debris Removal Now Eligible for 100% Reimbursement, Public Assistance Federal Costshare Increased to 90%

June 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC - Today U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior senator, announced that the Fiscal Year 2009 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill which passed the U.S. Senate included a provision she secured allowing the Texas counties impacted by Hurricane Ike to access millions in additional Debris Removal and Public Assistance reimbursements from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Prior to the inclusion of this provision, 100 % Debris Removal reimbursement ended on April 26, 2009, and Public Assistance funding was reimbursed at only a 75%/25% rate. The new provision does away with the April 26th deadline for 100% Debris Removal and increases the federal costshare for Public Assistance funding from FEMA to 90%.

“This has been a long fight, and I’m pleased that our Gulf Coast communities will have access to this much needed funding,” said Sen. Hutchison. “This will give additional time and resources to the cities and counties affected, helping them to rebuild after one of Texas’ most devastating storms.”

Also included in the FY 09 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill was language that allows the City of Galveston to be eligible for an additional $27 million in community disaster loans from FEMA. In 2008, Senators Hutchison and Cornyn worked to add $100 million in funding for Community Disaster Loans, administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Subsequently, they were able to include in legislation an exception to the $5 million loan cap so that cities that have more than $5 million in needs, such as Galveston, can receive loans commensurate with their full needs.

However, when the City of Galveston applied to FEMA for the exception, their request was denied due to a timing issue in the calculation for eligibility. The legislation passed today fixed that timing issue.

“This clears the way so that Galveston has access to millions in very necessary loans to help the city rebuild after Hurricane Ike,” Senator Hutchison said. “By clearing the bureaucratic obstacles that have been in Galveston’s path, they’re now eligible for an additional $27 million in federal funds.”

Immediately after the FEMA Disaster Declaration, Senator Hutchison convened “Team Texas,” which brought the Texas delegation members together in a bipartisan fashion to coordinate their efforts to secure federal funding for the recovery from Hurricane Ike before Congress adjourned for the election season.

Last November, Senators Hutchison and Cornyn secured a 180-day extension on the 100 % Debris Removal reimbursements (Category A), which covered all reimbursements from October 26, 2008 through April 26, 2009. Before this provision was secured, debris removal projects submitted after April 26 were only reimbursed at 75%. Today’s news will allow those projects, and any Hurricane Ike-related debris removal project, to receive the full 100% reimbursement going forward.

Prior to the inclusion of this provision, Public Assistance projects were reimbursed at a 75% federal/25% non-federal split. The State of Texas requires local communities to bear the non-federal percent entirely.

On June 10, Sen. Hutchison announced that Texas would receive $1.74 billion in CDBG disaster recovery funding. This funding came as part of the second allocation of funding from the $6.1 billion that she secured in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Emergency Supplemental. Of that $6.1 billion, more than $3 billion of that went to Texas communities and counties.

Source: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison