Florida Republicans rip ‘disgusting’ Dem push for ‘equity’ rules at FEMA
(This story has been updated to reflect comment of Representative Bruce Westerman. )
House Democrats are making a push for the expansion of executive branch oversight on federal disaster recovery — a plan that President Barack Obama rejected after a major hurricane hit Texas in 2005.
The bill is part of a package of proposals the House Democrats unveiled last week that includes a proposal to create a commission on the role of federal disaster relief, a bill that would require the president to issue a recovery declaration for every major disaster of the past year, and a bill that would require the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop and implement an infrastructure bill.
The final plan, a bill to create an emergency manager agency and an independent commission on federal disaster recovery, has sparked a major firestorm in statehouses across the country, and on Capitol Hill.
Florida Republicans, reacting to the news of a plan by House Democrats in Congress to expand federal oversight of disaster-recovery programs, including the FEMA response and recovery, called the proposal “a political ploy to expand government” and a “disgusting” attempt to shift the blame to the Obama Administration.
The Florida House Republican Caucus issued a statement calling the proposed FEMA rules “a transparent attempt by Democrats to continue their failed policies and seek to expand government power, rather than reduce it and get our federal government back on track.”
“I am disgusted by the Democrats’ push to give our government a permanent hand in our lives without a mandate or any constitutional requirement,” state Rep. Bill Hager, a Florida Republican, said in a statement.
“They are pushing for a federal commission on the federal response to disasters like this, to give them a permanent role as the government agency to oversee the nation’s natural disasters.”
A new House Democratic plan would create a commission to hold hearings on federal disaster