The Political Economy of FEMA Disaster Payments

The Political Economy of FEMA Disaster Payments
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The Political Economy of FEMA Disaster Payments
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was established in 1979 by President Carter’s Executive Order 12127. In particular, it brought together numerous disaster relief agencies that were already in existence. The FEMA allocates federal funds to regions that have been adversely affected by natural disasters, such as fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, severe flooding, and hurricanes. Besides, funding can also be done for minor weather phenomena, including snow, ice, and thunderstorms. The FEMA disaster relief occurs because federal funding is essential to supplement local and state resources. Nevertheless, the FEMA funds are distributed politically rather than on the basis of need.
The FEMA disaster relief process is politically influenced since disaster declaration is made by the president solely. The Stafford Act does not give a concrete or specific set of criteria that should be adhered to when declaring a disaster (Garrett & Sobel, 2002). In reality, since there exists a broad range of natural hazards or weather phenomena, it means that the president might be more inclined to declare a disaster in states that are politically important (Sobel, Coyne, & Leeson, 2007). In addition, the Stafford Act permits the president to unilaterally allocate the FEMA funds to catastrophic events declared as disasters without Congress approval. In that light, the president might use that power to reward or punish legislators who support or oppose government policies. He can also do it to tarnish the opposing party legislators’ image to reduce their reelection probability.
The vague definition of a disaster by the Stafford Act allows political loopholes that the president can use to declare emergencies or disasters. The president can authorize the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) through major hazards and emergency declarations. In particular, emergency declarations are made to safeguard public health, protect property, and avert or lessen a catastrophe. Major disaster declarations help local and state communities to recover from catastrophic events (Lindsay, 2014). According to the Stafford Act, a disaster refers to an incident “of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments and that federal assistance is necessary” (Garrett & Sobel, 2002). The language used in defining a disaster is unclear since there are no criteria to identify catastrophes that need federal aid. As such, the president is left with the mandate to declare an event a disaster whenever he wants. Therefore, he can declare a minor incident a disaster and use the FEMA funds to achieve or push his political agenda.
The congressional oversight is another way that leads to the FEMA funds being distributed politically rather than based on need. The Stafford Act prohibits using any arithmetic formula in determining the DRF to be given to a specific geographical area (Garrett & Sobel, 2002). In other words, no particular criterion is given to ensure the...