On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Ross Spano, R-Fla., called on President Donald Trump to declare a federal National Emergency regarding the coronavirus outbreak.
Spano weighed in on why he wrote the president on the matter.
“President Trump took decisive action by stopping flights from affected areas early on to stop the spread of the coronavirus. While he took some heat for this, it has become clear this measure was important, but it is now evident further action is needed,” said Spano. “I am asking the president to declare a national emergency to ensure local, state agencies have the resources needed to protect our constituents.”
Spano’s office stressed the importance of the president declaring a National Emergency.
“Declaring a National Emergency under the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5207) would potentially open over $40 Billion in funding to assist state and local governments in their efforts to prepare for and respond to the Coronavirus. This would be in addition to the $8.3 billion dollars in emergency supplemental appropriations that Representative Spano voted for, Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law last week,” Spano’s office noted. “This emergency funding package included more than $4 billion to make diagnostic tests more broadly available to the public, $2.2 billion for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), $20 million dollars to administer disaster assistance loans for small businesses impacted by the virus and over $1.2 billion to the U.S. Agency for International Development to prevent the further spread of the virus.”
Last week, Spano rounded up most of the Florida delegation in sending a letter to the White House calling on the administration to focus federal resources on helping states deal with coronavirus. Earlier on Wednesday, the federal government announced that Florida would receive $27,296,306 to help fight coronavirus.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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