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CBO Revises Cost Estimate for the Respond Act

Date: June 2, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security


CBO REVISES COST ESTIMATE FOR THE RESPOND ACT

Emergency Management Subcommittee Chairman Bill Shuster today received the updated and revised cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for H.R. 5316, the Restoring Emergency Services to Protect Our Nation from Disasters (RESPOND) Act. The RESPOND Act rebuilds and reinforces the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as restores it as an independent agency.

"CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5316 would cost about $1.1 billion over the 2007 - 2011 period. Enacting this legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues," according CBO's report dated May 17, 2006, which supersedes the initial preliminary cost estimate conveyed on May 24, 2006. "The new estimate corrects an error that CBO made in its previous estimate for H.R. 5316."

"We've worked with CBO, corrected the mistake and revised the estimate. We now have an accurate score for the RESPOND Act, which has bipartisan support," said Shuster.

Last week, CBO developed a preliminary cost estimate for H.R. 5316 which was inaccurate. $9 billion of the $9.8 billion inaccurate score was based on the false assumption that the RESPOND Act would authorize several first responder grant programs.

The RESPOND Act strengthens FEMA, re-establishes a direct line of communication to the White House and takes the responsibility for managing disasters out of a massive 190,000 person bureaucracy and puts it into a lean and nimble agency at the right hand of the president. Addressing all of these concerns without restoring FEMA as a stand-alone agency only corrects what went wrong during the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina. H.R. 5316 addresses both what went wrong and why FEMA failed.

"It is simply a different mindset," said Shuster. "Professional staff at FEMA focus on if and when something happens, but DHS employees focus on preventing something from happening. What we have now is a confused chain of command, a flawed system and a FEMA director who does not report to the president. CBO estimates the cost of restoring FEMA's independence at $2 million a year, a small price to create an emergency management system that we know can work.

http://www.house.gov/list/press/pa09_shuster/revisedcboscore.html

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