FEMA Fever

Nice work if you can get it.

   Consider these numbers: The House of Representatives wants to give $3.1 billion to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) over the next four years, with an estimated $2.9 billion going to salaries and expenses, according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.
   Elementary arithmetic puts that at almost 96 percent.
   The rest of the money would go to urban search and rescue operations, assistance grants, and "grants to repair structures primarily used for religious purposes."

   More basic arithmetic: Of the $110 million for search and rescue operations, that's less than 3 percent. Some $6 million for assistance grants (whatever they are) comes to about 0.2 percent. And another $82 million (about 2 percent) would help repair religious structures.
   All numbers are rounded, and the percentages don't add up to exactly 100, but given FEMA's past performance record, how come almost all the money is budgeted for salaries and expenses, and help for the needy is near zero?
   Certainly search and rescue operations are essential, but that segment would get only about 3 percent of the four-year budget estimate. And $110 million divided by four equals $27 million a year. How far will that go in helping victims of Midwest tornadoes? And $6 million in assistance grants over four years means less than $1 million a year.

   As for $82 million to religious-related structure repairs, that's another issue. One wonders why that segment would get more than 10 times as much help as would go to help people generally. In fairness, it must be said that many of these structures do provide shelter in time of disaster. But so do schools, which are built and maintained by local governments and private, non-sectarian education organizations. There is no mention of aid for these groups in the CBO analysis.

  And for all the noise among Republicans and conservatives, who dominate the House, calling for spending cuts, eliminating what they call waste, and reducing staff, why is 96 percent of the proposed FEMA budget going to salaries and expenses? Is this justified, remembering FEMA's performance record?

   For those who want a source to confirm all the above, go to the CBO web site and check out the report on H.R. 3300, FEMA Reauthorization Act of 2013, as called for by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The CBO cost estimate was posted by CBO November 19.