New wave of calls for Congress to vote on disaster aid before election

There is a new wave of calls for Congress to return to Washington to respond to the growing costs of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Multiple members of Congress from hurricane-ravaged states have issued new calls for the U.S. House and Senate to respond to the depletion of funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loan fund. 

“It’s unacceptable that Congress remains in recess while families and businesses across North Carolina and beyond are in urgent need of assistance,” said Rep. Wally Nickel, a first-term Democrat from North Carolina.    

Nickel said, “In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, our communities are struggling to recover and our small businesses are desperate for support as they work to rebuild. Their recovery efforts are stalled without additional funding.”

Congress has returned home through the middle of November, as the entire U.S. House and nearly a third of the Senate face reelection races. Congressional leaders have defied calls for action on the loan funds before the election. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Tuesday that it had exhausted the available funds in its disaster loan program, which is used by businesses and homeowners who are affected by natural disasters.   According to CBS News reporting earlier this month, the agency had issued warnings to legislators that the hurricanes risked draining needed funds and urged Congress to swiftly approve more money.

The agency said, “Until Congress appropriates additional funds, the SBA is pausing new loan offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term loans to disaster survivors.” The agency said it will continue to urge victims to apply for loans “given assurances from Congressional leaders that additional funding will be provided upon Congress’s return in November.”

Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, said he has urged Senate leaders to reconvene as soon as possible after assessments of damage and the needs of agencies, including the Small Business Administration. In a statement posted on social media, Scott said he has spoken with the Small Business Administration to discuss the needs of his constituents.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat and former state emergency manager, told CBS News, “Thousands of applications are coming in each day for disaster loans following Hurricane Helene and Milton. Congress knew this fund was running low as we left for recess during hurricane season, and we failed to be proactive. We shouldn’t be waiting until mid-November to come back to D.C. and fix this.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office said in a statement to CBS News: “There’s no question these devastating back-to-back storms have stressed the SBA funding program. But the Biden-Harris Administration has the necessary disaster funding right now to address the immediate needs of American people in these hurricane affected areas. Congress is tracking this situation closely, and when Members return in just a few short weeks, the Administration should have an accurate assessment of the actual dollar amount needed and there will be strong bipartisan support to provide the necessary funding.”

On “Face the Nation” Sunday, Johnson addressed questions about whether Congress should return early to respond to calls to bolster funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  

“Congress can’t meet and just send money on a guess or an estimate of what the damages are,” he said. “The way supplemental disaster funding is provided is that, you know, the state sends in actual needs. It’s assessed by Congress and then handed out that way. But again, remember, they have billions, tens of billions of dollars that were already sent to FEMA, one day before Helene made landfall. So they have plenty of resources.”