As part of the agreement over the CR, Congress agreed to spend $500 million to help Louisiana and other states recover from recent flooding. At least $400 million is expected to go to Louisiana, where August flooding killed 13 people and damaged an estimated 146,000 homes. While President Obama signed an emergency declaration in the immediate wake of the flooding, it was not until the end of September that Congress was able to agree on supplemental spending related to the emergency declaration. At the behest of the Louisiana congressional delegation, senior Republicans included the spending in the initial draft of the CR, but Democratic leadership initially balked, insisting that if Congress provided funding for disaster recovery in Louisiana, it must also do so for Flint.

State officials have described the $500 million as a "down payment" to help the thousands of residents and businesses wiped out by the mid-August floods. Gov. John Bel Edwards has estimated damage to total as much as $8.7 billion. The $500 million will be devoted to helping with emergency housing repairs through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) community block grant program. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) said he had promises from congressional leaders that more relief was to come during the "lame duck" session after Election Day. Gov. Edwards and President Obama asked for $2.6 billion at the start of budget negotiations.

Takeaway: As part of the agreement over the CR, Congress approved $500 million in spending for flood relief. The funding will be devoted to emergency housing repairs through HUD's community block grant program. We expect the issue to remain on the agenda during the "lame duck" congressional session as additional funding will most likely be necessary.