OMB says FEMA has sufficient funds

The White House on Tuesday promised to consider issuing a new emergency supplemental funding request if money is needed to address additional disasters this year, but said right now the Federal Emergency Management Agency has enough funds to do its job. "If there are new emergencies, the administration will take appropriate action to deal with them," Office of Management and Budget spokesman Chris Ullman said. But Ullman drew the line at providing added money during the current fiscal year for already declared disasters. Democrats last week noted that FEMA's final chunk of previously appropriated emergency funds was released last week to address several declared disasters, including the aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison. Ullman argued that, with only two months left in fiscal 2001, it will be a challenge for those receiving assistance to spend the $583.1 million that the White House released last week. FEMA's emergency spending fund stood at $1.8 billion at the beginning of the Bush administration. OMB Director Mitch Daniels has sought to steer Washington "away from the notion that there should be automatic supplementals every year," Ullman said. Ullman did not foreclose options for funding the needs of current disaster victims next year, saying that could be "dealt with in a variety of ways." But he added that the administration had no "formal position" on $1.3 billion in emergency FEMA funding added to the House's fiscal 2002 VA- HUD appropriations bill.