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# Legislative Bulletin...............................................................March 2, 2006

**Contents:**

> **S. 1777** -- Katrina Emergency Assistance Act of 2005 --as amended

**S. 1777 -- Katrina Emergency Assistance Act of 2005 --- as amended
(Senator Collins, R-ME)**

**[Order of Business]{.underline}**: The bill, as amended, is scheduled
for consideration on Thursday, March 2, 2006, under a unanimous consent
agreement that includes one hour of general debate, no amendments, and
one motion to recommit without instructions.

**[Summary]{.underline}**: S. 1777, as amended, would extend
unemployment assistance to Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims for an
additional 13 weeks. The assistance is paid out of FEMA's disaster
relief fund, which under current law, has eligibility for disaster
unemployment assistance (DUA) expiring at 26 weeks after the declared
emergency (42 U.S.C. 5177(a)). According to CBO, S. 1777 as amended is
expected to result in \$250 million being spent (outlayed) from the U.S.
Treasury this year. DUA funds are not available to people covered by
other unemployment compensation programs.

The text of the bill up today reads:

> "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the case of an
> individual eligible to receive unemployment assistance under section
> 410(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
> Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.5177(a)) as a result of a disaster
> declaration made for Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita on or after
> August 29, 2005, the President shall make such assistance available
> for 39 weeks after the date of the disaster declaration."

**[Administration Information:]{.underline}** The Administration
reportedly has not officially requested this extension.

**[Committee Action]{.underline}**: S. 1777 passed the Senate with an
amendment by unanimous consent on February 15, 2006. On the same day,
the bill was received in the House and referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure and to the Committee on the Judiciary,
neither of which took any official action. The bill on the House floor
today is a completely new substitute.

**[Cost to Taxpayers]{.underline}**: According to CBO, it is expected
that FEMA would pay for the cost incurred in this bill with funds
already provided by two supplemental appropriation acts enacted after
Hurricane Katrina (Public Laws 109-61 and 109-62). According to CBO, the
funds appropriated to FEMA for the Gulf disaster unemployment assistance
were not all going to be spent by FEMA on the DUA, if it expired as
expected after 26 weeks. According to CBO, by extending DUA for an
additional 13 weeks, S. 1777, as amended, is expected to result in \$250
million being spent (outlayed) from the U.S. Treasury. In short, the
account already has appropriated funds in it, so this will not result in
any new appropriations, though historically, unspent funds are often
rescinded by Congress and result in savings elsewhere. Therefore, this
bill, from a budget perspective, results in no new authorized
appropriations, though it allows government spending (perhaps as much as
\$250 million), which may otherwise not have been spent.

**[Does the Bill Expand the Size and Scope of the Federal
Government?]{.underline}**: The bill extends dependency on federal FEMA
unemployment checks for an additional 13 weeks.

**[Does the Bill Contain Any New State-Government, Local-Government, or
Private-]{.underline}**

[**Sector Mandates?**:]{.underline} Section 4 of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act (UMRA) excludes from the application of that Act legislative
provisions that provide for emergency assistance or relief. CBO has
determined that the provisions of S. 1777 would fall within that
exclusion and has not reviewed the bill for intergovernmental or
private-sector mandates.

**[Constitutional Authority]{.underline}**: A committee report citing
authority is unavailable.

**[RSC Staff Contact]{.underline}**: Sheila Cole;
<sheila.cole@mail.house.gov>; 202-226-9719

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