Stumping for RI Blizzard Relief, Reed Urges Bipartisan Lawmakers to Help Make Federal Disaster Aid for States Merit-based Again

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) joined several of his colleagues on Tuesday for a bipartisan roundtable discussion looking at extreme weather, natural disasters, and federal disaster relief efforts. Reed joined U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), John Curtis (R-UT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), for a wide-ranging conversation about the rising costs of extreme weather and federal aid and the complex challenges that different regions are facing. The lawmakers discussed insurance, disaster recovery aid, and energy costs and the role that climate change plays in exacerbating these impacts and challenges. During the roundtable, Senator Reed raised the issue of President Trump overruling his own agencies and unfairly denying federal disaster aid to Rhode Island and other states that did not vote for President Trump in the 2024 election. Reed highlighted the danger to all fifty states if disaster aid is suddenly politicized and changed from a system that provides merit-based assistance based on fact to one that financially rewards the allies of whoever is in the Oval Office and punishes the president’s perceived opponents by denying them needed, documented, merit-based aid. Reed urged bipartisan support for a bill he recently introduced, the Disaster Relief Fairness Act (S.5018), which would prevent Donald Trump from maliciously denying disaster assistance to states and communities when they have met the criteria to qualify. Reed stated: “Rhode Islanders experienced a historic natural disaster in February, when the state was struck by a record-breaking blizzard. The storm hit Rhode Island with the intensity of a Category 2 hurricane, with over three feet of snow in a 24-hour period -- the highest one-day snowfall on record for Rhode Island. FEMA assessed over $19 million in damages, nine times the threshold required for Rhode Island to receive a major disaster declaration.” Under any other administration, this disaster declaration would have been approved on the merits. Yet, last month, with no explanation the Trump Administration denied Rhode Island’s request. The same day, President Trump denied three other blue states, yet boasted about delivering FEMA assistance for six red states. Politico found that Trump has approved nearly 90 percent of disaster requests from red states and just 23 percent of disaster requests for blue states. Recognizing that President Trump cannot be trusted with these decisions, Reed urged his colleagues to support the Disaster Relief Fairness Act to approve all disasters that occur in President Trump’s term that meet FEMA’s criteria for disaster assistance. “I hope my colleagues will consider supporting that legislation. I think we can all agree that it’s never good to have a President who makes decisions --especially with something as critical as disaster aid -- based on who the state voted for in the last election,” stated Reed. During the roundtable, the U.S. Senators heard from a panel of experts, including: Adam Smith, who was at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for over 20 years until May 2025, when he was fired by President Trump. He led the Billion Dollar Disaster Database that NOAA maintained from 1980-2025. Mr. Smith is currently the Senior Climate Impacts Scientist at Climate Central. Michael Gaughan, who has been with Vermont Bond Bank since 2018. Vermont Bond Bank, founded in 1970, was the first Bond Bank in the country. In 2023, VT Bond Bank launched the Municipal Climate Recovery Fund (MCRF), the first of its kind. This fund was designed to provide municipal budgetary relief in the flood recovery for small rural towns by lowering the costs of borrowing to bridge Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement or pay for other unexpected disaster recovery costs. Chief Bob Roper, Senior Wildfire Advisor to the Western Fire Chiefs Association, who joined the meeting virtually. In February, Rhode Island was struck by a record-breaking blizzard that dumped 37.9 inches of snow in a 24-hour period and the state experienced wind gusts of 74 miles per hour. The winter storm created immense challenges for local businesses, which faced prolonged closures due to storm-related damage and disruptions to transportation, utilities, and public services and resulted in over $19.3 million worth of confirmed damage. After examining the evidence, high-ranking officials from regional offices of FEMA and NOAA agreed that Rhode Island and other blue states impacted by the storm met the necessary thresholds for receiving federal relief due to the historic natural disasters that impacted their states. However, President Trump ignored their findings and rejected the federal request for a disaster declaration anyway -- a move that experts say has no modern precedent. “I will continue working with my colleagues to ensure Rhode Island, and every other state is treated fairly. It is in the best interest of every member of Congress to act in good faith, lest their states find themselves in a similar situation going forward. While occupants of the Oval Office change, America’s core values and inherent sense of fairness remains steadfast. Congress should act in the taxpayer’s interest and help states who’ve been hit by a major, record-breaking disaster.”