Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Hurricane Katrina Relief

Publication Date: August 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Banking and finance

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Abstract:

In response to the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, the 109th Congress enacted two FY2005 emergency supplemental appropriations bills (P.L. 10961 and P.L. 109-62), which together provided $62.3 billion for emergency response and recovery needs. The FY2006 appropriations legislation for the Department of Defense (P.L. 109-148) reallocated some of those funds primarily to pay for the restoration of damaged federal facilities, largely through a government-wide rescission and also through the reallocation of $23.4 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In addition, Congress agreed to transfer $712 million from FEMA to the Small Business Administration for disaster loans (P.L. 109-174). In FY2006, Congress agreed to an administration request for further funding; $19.3 billion was appropriated in supplemental legislation (P.L. 109234) for recovery assistance.

This CRS report summarizes federal disaster assistance funding legislation in the 109th Congress and presents some information on federal expenditures and obligations for disaster recovery activities. This report will be updated as events warrant.