House includes $100M to reauthorize emergency response fund, but limits it to natural disasters

The House’s proposed budget includes a $100 million transfer to an Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund. But the funding required can only be used for a natural disaster.

The inclusion happened a day after the Senate signaled it will authorize money for the fund. In the upper chamber, Republicans shot down Democratic attempts to put restrictions on how Gov. Ron DeSantis spent the money.

State officials have spent $405 million to fight illegal immigration, as reported by the Florida Phoenix. Much of the money went toward private jet flights, restaurant meals and badges.

The $100 million included in the House budget is contingent on the Legislature passing a bill (PCB TED 26-02) that would be clear funding can only be spent on a “natural emergency.” The proposed legislation would prohibit the spending of funds on vehicles.

Another requirement in that bill: The Governor would be required to provide annual reports to the House and Senate on what remains in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, along with an accounting of all inventory and assets purchased and noting the emergency that prompted such spending.

It also requires a “written attestation, under penalty of perjury, from the director of the Division of Emergency Management that the information in the report is true, accurate, and complete.”

The state has come under fire for the amount spent on immigration detention centers, most notably Alligator Alcatraz. DeSantis has remained insistent that funding will be reimbursed by the federal government.

The Senate on Wednesday approved legislation (SB 7040) that reauthorizes the existence of the fund.

The current iteration of the emergency is expected to expire on Feb. 17, four years after the fund was originally created. The Senate bill would recreate the fund as of Feb. 17. Notably, the committee bill in the House calls for the restrictions to be in place as of that date, even though the bill and budget will likely be signed well afterward.