ORLANDO, Fla. – As hurricane season begins, the Federal Emergency Management Agency could face significant challenges amid budget cuts.
Florida Democratic Congressman Darren Soto expressed his concerns about the potential impact of these changes on the Sunshine State.
“I’m deeply concerned about the attempted changes to FEMA,” Soto said.
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According to CBS News, FEMA lost a third of its staff after 1,800 employees accepted buyout offers from the Trump administration. With an additional 200 probationary workers fired, the agency is shorthanded. CBS News also reported on an internal FEMA review that indicated the agency is “not ready” for hurricane season.
“If a hurricane hits and we don’t get individual relief, it means that you’re not going to get any assistance if you need temporary housing or a loan to fix your house while you’re waiting for the insurance company to pay out, which could be years,” Soto explained.
“It means local governments don’t get reimbursed for cleaning up both the roads and the overtime for law enforcement, firefighters, and our first responders.”
While Congress reviews the Trump administration’s proposal to slash FEMA’s budget, some Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, argue that the agency could be dissolved outright.
“We don’t rely on FEMA. We do it. We lead. We have local partners and the best emergency management team from the local and state level anywhere in the country, bar none,” DeSantis stated in April.
However, Soto disagrees with this perspective.
“It is a boneheaded idea. Look, the states are very good at responding initially, but they don’t have the money to fund the recovery,” he said.