U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

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79–011 2017

115th Congress, 1st Session – – – – – – – – – – – – – House Document 115–80 

REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL FISCAL YEAR 2018 FUNDING AND THE NECESSARY AUTHORITIES TO ADDRESS ONGOING RECOVERY EFFORTS DUE TO THE 

2017 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON 

COMMUNICATION 

FROM

THE DIRECTOR, THE OFFICE OF 

MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET 

TRANSMITTING

A REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL FISCAL YEAR 2018 FUNDING AND 

THE NECESSARY AUTHORITIES TO ADDRESS ONGOING RECOVERY EFFORTS DUE TO THE 2017 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON 

NOVEMBER 24, 2017.—Referred to the Committee on Appropriations and 

ordered to be printed 


E:\Seals\Congress.#13
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EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, 

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET, 

Washington, DC, November 17, 2017. 

Hon. PAUL D. RYAN, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. SPEAKER: This year’s Atlantic hurricane season has resulted in historic, widespread destruction that continues to affect 

the lives of millions of Americans. While the road to recovery from 

these devastating forces of nature will be long and difficult, the 

President, myself, and all members of the Administration remain 

steadfast in our commitment to not only help our communities recover, but to rebuild stronger than before. 

Given that Hurricane Maria made landfall only 58 days ago and 

conditions remain extremely challenging in Puerto Rico and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), detailed damage assessments are not 

yet available for these communities. Accordingly, the Administration will continue to identify, refine, and articulate additional 

emergency funding requirements working with the governments of 

Puerto Rico and USVI, and this supplemental request does not represent the final request for their needs. 

To date, the President has signed into law the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster 

Relief Requirements Act, 2017 (Public Law 115–56), which provided $15.3 billion in emergency funding and necessary authorities 

to respond to and recover from these storms. The President also 

signed into law the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for 

Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017 (Public Law 115–72), which 

provided an additional $20.5 billion, for a total of $35.8 billion. This 

same Act also provided $16 billion in debt cancellation for the National Flood Insurance Program. All told, the cost of the disasters 

thus far exceeds $50 billion. 

At this time, the Administration is requesting additional fiscal 

year (FY) 2018 funding in the amount of $44 billion and the necessary authorities to address ongoing recovery efforts. Because the 

need for this funding arises from unforeseen and unanticipated 

events, the Administration requests that the amounts proposed be 

provided and designated as emergency requirements pursuant to 

section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA). 

As a matter of comity, also provided in this total is $5 million 

in emergency funding for property damage as requested by the Judicial Branch. 

As noted in congressional briefings and discussed in my October 

4, 2017 letter to the Congress requesting disaster relief and other 

emergency funds, it takes 60 days to assemble initial recovery cost 

estimates after a major hurricane and can take up to 90 days to 

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prepare reliable estimates. Federal agencies and the affected States 

have been working diligently to collect the information needed and 

have been able to generate these cost estimates for areas impacted 

by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. As a result, this request includes 

recovery costs in States impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. 

The request also includes costs of repairing Federal property, replacement of lost or damaged equipment, and, in a limited number 

of cases, extraordinary personnel costs that cannot be absorbed 

within current appropriations, for all of the Atlantic hurricanes. 

Because Hurricane Maria occurred more recently, damage assessments are ongoing, including in Puerto Rico and USVI. The Administration is also aware of the unique challenges facing these 

Territories. Thus, this supplemental request includes funding for 

the continued disaster response and initial recovery activities for 

Puerto Rico and USVI including funding to address the Territories’ 

fiscal liquidity needs. Adequate funding for these activities in FY 

2018 will be critical to continued response and near-term recovery 

efforts, such as emergency power restoration and the ongoing distribution of fuel and commodities, as well as initiating efforts 

under permanent work categories. For Puerto Rico in particular, 

the Administration seeks, as part of this request, authority to provide public assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

and Emergency Assistance Act without limitation of pre-disaster 

condition and causation. Related to that, the Administration will 

work closely with Puerto Rico to develop a plan for rebuilding, 

which will inform the future request for long-term recovery funding. 

Additional details on specific programmatic funding requirements are discussed in an attachment to this letter. In summary, 

the Administration recommends $25.2 billion for traditional disaster relief administered by the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration, $1.0 billion for emergency agricultural assistance, $1.2 billion for an Education recovery fund, and $4.6 billion for repair or replacement of 

damaged Federal property and equipment and other Federal agencies’ disaster programs and recovery costs. The Administration also 

proposes a $12.0 billion appropriation for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program focused on flood mitigation projects, which would be awarded competitively to States 

and Territories that had more than one flood-related major disaster 

declaration in the past four years. Those States and Territories 

must present cost-effective solutions to reducing future disaster 

risk and lowering the potential cost of future disaster recovery. 

Furthermore, the competition will incentivize those States and Territories to engage in partnerships that will bring non-Federal resources to expedite delivery of the projects. Eligible projects may 

include projects typically undertaken by and with the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers. 

The Administration recognizes that Puerto Rico will need to contribute funds toward its share of the Medicaid program in order to 

access its remaining FY 2018 Federal Medicaid funding. In addition, Puerto Rico is expected to reach its Federal Medicaid funding 

cap in early calendar year 2018, at which point the Territory would 

be responsible for any health care expenditures for this population 

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above the annual capped allotment. Though the Administration expects to work with Puerto Rico and the Congress on medium-term 

liquidity issues through a future request, the Administration is 

aware of legislation being considered to address Medicaid sooner. 

Due to this year’s historic and widespread wildfires, thousands 

of families in California are struggling to rebuild their homes and 

communities. Accordingly, the Administration requests targeted tax 

relief that will directly aid in the rebuilding process in areas covered by a major disaster declaration. This relief should include: 

non-itemized deductions for casualty losses waiving the current-law 

requirement that losses exceed 10 percent of adjusted gross income, 

penalty-free access to retirement funds, disaster-related employment relief, earned income tax credit reporting-year flexibility, and 

enhancement of charitable giving incentives. Together, these provisions mirror the tax relief provided in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria (Public Law 115–63). 

In addition, the Administration notes its support for legislation 

that would make houses of worship eligible for disaster relief funding (provided they meet the other relevant criteria for private nonprofit facilities) and offers technical assistance regarding the timeframe for applicability. 

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) 

The Administration would like to reemphasize the need for swift 

action to reauthorize and reform NFIP. On October 4, 2017, the 

Administration provided the Congress with a set of commonsense 

reforms that would begin to put the program on a sound financial 

footing and enable the private market for flood insurance to expand. The Administration is encouraged by House passage of H.R. 

2874, the 21st Century Flood Reform Act, and encourages the Congress to reach an agreement on reforming the NFIP, along the 

lines of H.R. 2874, as soon as possible. 

Offsets for Additional Spending 

The Administration believes it is prudent to offset new spending. 

These offsets include the cancellation of unobligated balances that 

are no longer needed for the purposes for which they were appropriated, as well as for projects and activities that are not as high 

of a priority as responding to this year’s hurricanes in a fiscally responsible manner. Many of these same cancellations were proposed 

in the President’s FY 2018 Budget, and for the purposes of this request are not in addition to those amounts. To the extent that 

these cancellations would have been considered as part of the FY 

2018 appropriations bills, the Administration will work with the 

Appropriations Committee to find reductions elsewhere if needed. 

In order to offset increases to the new emergency spending we are 

requesting, the Congress should also consider designating offsets 

from base appropriations as an emergency. 

To offset the remaining cost of this request, the Administration 

suggests that the Congress extend the non-defense Joint Committee mandatory sequestration pursuant to 251A of BBEDCA for 

two additional years. 

Finally, these proposed spending reductions are not intended to 

offset any specific component of this request or of previous reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Nov 25, 2017 Jkt 079011 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\HD080.XXX HD080
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quests. We look forward to working with you to find the most appropriate time and manner for the Congress to consider these offsets. 

Department of Defense Budget Amendments 

On November 6, the President asked the Congress to consider FY 

2018 Budget amendments for DOD. This request included an additional $4.0 billion to support urgent missile defeat and defense enhancements to counter the threat from North Korea, $0.7 billion to 

repair damage to U.S. Navy ships, and $1.2 billion in support of 

the Administration’s South Asia strategy. The Administration is 

pleased that this request was incorporated into the conference report for the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, and is reiterating the need for the Congress to act on funding this request 

in a timely manner. 

As mentioned in the November 6 request, I also ask the Congress to act on the FY 2018 Budget request for the border wall of $1.6 

billion within the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and 

Border Protection Procurement, Construction, and Improvements 

account. Providing for the safety of the American people is a top 

priority of the Administration. 

Thank you for your consideration of these requests, additional 

details for which are included in the attachment to this letter. The 

Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to support continuing recovery efforts. 

Sincerely, 

MICK MULVANEY, Director. 

Enclosures. 

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