The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been an invaluable partner in the efforts of the federal government to provide disaster relief to those impacted by storms, flooding, wildfires and other disasters. Long-term aid will remain key for the agency even as the Biden administration is set to expire in January.
This was the perspective shared by acting HUD secretary Adrianne Todman in a hearing last week with the Senate appropriations committee. Todman appeared to offer testimony on a recent request made by President Joe Biden for Congress to provide up $100 billion in additional disaster relief funding, stemming from ongoing recovery efforts after a series of major disasters that include hurricanes and wildfires.
Other administration officials — including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small — appeared alongside Todman before the committee to make the case for the additional funding. They also looked ahead to a future with a new administration that has vowed rampant cuts in spending.
“It is so important for this Congress to act with urgency,” Todman said in her remarks. “We must do better. We have a moral obligation to protect people. Right now, it takes four years — from the time of an event to when substantial housing is rebuilt after a disaster. That is far, far too long.”
In addition to requesting $12 billion for HUD, Todman added that the agency’s disaster recovery program requires codification and authorization from Congress “so that it is there for Americans over and over again, allowing local and state leaders to plan recovery as they respond to a disaster.”
According to an analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) in conjunction with the hearing, the incredibly fast pace of successive disasters this year has strained the timeline for aid appropriations, which could have adverse outcomes for victims and impacted areas.
“Just this year, the U.S. has experienced 24 disasters with losses for each disaster exceeding $1 billion, including recent Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which alone are likely to cost over $50 billion each,” the analysis explained. It went on to note that FEMA’s disaster relief fund spent nearly half of the funding appropriated to it in just eight days, while funding for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)’s disaster loan program ”has been completely exhausted.”
BPC added that Congress “must swiftly address the urgent needs of these key programs as well as the many others across federal agencies intended to support a wide variety of disaster response and recovery activities.”
