This month, Washington communities across several counties were inundated with rain and flooding caused by successive atmospheric rivers. The losses and damages are yet to be measured, but the experience shows the importance of communities making themselves more resilient in the face of natural disasters.
While Washington will receive federal assistance for these storm effects, a U.S. District judge in Maryland ordered federal funding, which had been canceled, to be reinstated to do more of that work.
The Trump administration had tried to withhold billions of dollars for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program for projects that will help mitigate natural disasters. The judge’s righteous decision was based on the U.S. Constitution and will benefit millions of people.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns ruled last week that the Office of Homeland Security’s decision to withhold billions of dollars for Federal Emergency Management Agency projects violated the separation of powers, among other things.
The judge ruled that defunding the BRIC program is in direct violation of Congress’ decision to fund it. Hence, the legislative branch, not the executive, holds the nation’s purse strings, and the executive branch has no lawful authority to refuse to spend allocated funds.
Washington, along with other states, sued the federal government after the Trump administration decided to withhold $3.6 billion for projects that they deemed were “wasteful and ineffective.” The move was part of the administration’s strategy of having states shoulder more of the cost for emergency disaster relief.
Among the BRIC projects the administration intended to defund was a $180-million levee system in Grays Harbor County — $84 million was being held up. The project is in U.S. Rep. Emily Randall’s 6th District.
“In April, I sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem slamming the Trump administration’s reckless decision to cancel the BRIC grant program, which clawed back $84 million from the Aberdeen Hoquiam North Shore Levee project,” said Randall. “Now, communities across Washington state are experiencing historic flooding, and the courts are getting involved. I won’t stop fighting until communities in the 6th actually see these funds.”
Despite the fact that in 2018 Trump signed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which focused on pre-disaster planning and mitigation, his second administration seems more about denying climate change than serving the needs of the people. Plus, earlier this year the administration looked for any potential savings that would help fund the big spending bill that Congress passed in the summer.
To the relief of many Washingtonians, including Gov. Bob Ferguson, Trump recently granted Washington’s request for an emergency declaration related to the extreme flooding that hit the state this month. Many of his decisions favoring red states over blue raised the question whether he would.
That is welcome and appreciated help.
As for when the $84 million will be released to Washington for its levees, that depends on whether the administration will appeal Judge Stearns’ ruling.
For the sake of Washington’s residents and its economy, it should not.
