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Examination of Federal Disaster Relief Under the Budget Control Act [February 24, 2016]
From the Document: "On August 2, 2011, the President signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25), which included a number of budget-controlling mechanisms. As part of the legislation, caps were placed on discretionary spending for the next ten years, beginning with FY2012. If these caps are exceeded, the BCA provides for an automatic rescission--known as sequestration--to take place across most discretionary budget accounts to reduce the effective level of spending to the level of the cap. Additionally, special accommodations were made in the BCA to address the unpredictable nature of disaster assistance while attempting to impose discipline on the amount spent by the federal government on disasters. The BCA created an allowable adjustment specifically to cover disaster relief (defined as the costs of major disasters under the Stafford Act), separate from emergency appropriations."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Lindsay, Bruce R.; Painter, William L.; McCarthy, Francis X.
2016-02-24
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Examination of Federal Disaster Relief Under the Budget Control Act [November 8, 2013]
This report discusses the pitfalls of current budget estimation tools regarding emergency management; the authors make observations and recommendations. "On August 2, 2011, the President signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112- 25), which included a number of budget-controlling mechanisms. As part of the legislation, caps were placed on discretionary spending for the next ten years, beginning with FY2012. […] On October 29, 2013, Hurricane Sandy came ashore, causing loss of life and billions of dollars in damage. The Administration proposed a relief package that exceeded the allowable adjustment for disaster relief under the BCA. The Administration requested, and Congress for the most part agreed, to designate the Hurricane Sandy supplemental as emergency spending outside of the limited disaster relief adjustment made available under the BCA. The history of the legislative response to this disaster demonstrated that while the BCA included an accommodation to provide dedicated additional funding for many disasters, catastrophic events such as Sandy remain a challenge to those developing long-term budgeting strategies. […] In the face of these challenges, Congress could choose to continue to use emergency funding to meet unbudgeted disaster relief needs, or change the allowable adjustment mechanism, the formula for calculating the allowable adjustment."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Lindsay, Bruce R.; Painter, William L.; McCarthy, Francis X.
2013-11-08
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Examination of Federal Disaster Relief Under the Budget Control Act [February 10, 2012]
"Concern over the size of the federal budget deficit and the national debt has brought congressional attention, as an ancillary issue, to both the amount of funding the federal government provides to states and localities for disaster assistance and the processes the federal government uses to provide that assistance. The amount of funding provided by Congress for declared emergencies and major disasters has grown considerably in the past decade, driven principally by the hurricane season of 2005. Although funds have been reallocated at times from one account to another to provide for disaster-related assistance, disaster relief funding has historically not been fully offset. Disaster relief funding has usually not been tightly constrained, either, with supplemental spending bills often funding these activities outside the allocations of discretionary budget authority and outlays associated with budget resolutions. Two potential methods for reducing the impact of disaster assistance spending on the federal budget are (1) the use of offsets and (2) placing controls on the level of allowable spending. Among its provisions, the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25, hereafter the BCA) provides a mechanism designed, arguably, to limit spending on major disasters declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-288, hereafter the Stafford Act), thereby limiting the impact of such spending on the budget deficit. This report reviews current disaster funding practices and examines potential issues presented to disaster funding under the BCA mechanism. The report also discusses how OMB [Office of Management and Budget] calculates the 'allowable adjustment' to discretionary spending caps for disaster relief pursuant to the BCA, and the potential policy implications that may result from that process."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Lindsay, Bruce R.; Painter, William L.; McCarthy, Francis X.
2012-02-10
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