It took months for the White House to submit emergency funding requests to Congress. That's a matter of public record.
There was plenty of fed funding of services signed off by the President, even as the storm hit...
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy partially activated the state's Emergency Operations Center on October 26[130] and signed a Declaration of Emergency the next day.[131] On October 28, President Obama approved Connecticut's request for an emergency declaration, and hundreds of National Guard personnel were deployed.[132] On October 29, Governor Malloy ordered road closures for all state highways.[133] Numerous mandatory and partial evacuations were issued in cities across Connecticut.[134]
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick ordered state offices to be closed October 29 and recommended schools and private businesses close. On October 28, President Obama issued a Pre-Landfall Emergency Declaration for Massachusetts. Several shelters were opened, and many schools were closed.[135] The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority shut down all services on the afternoon of October 29.[136] On October 28, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, and Maine's Governor Paul LePage all declared states of emergency
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November 2, 2012
Federal Relief Costs Likely to Be Big, and Contested
By ERIC LIPTON and JENNIFER STEINHAUER
WASHINGTON — The first trickle of federal funds has started to go out after Hurricane Sandy — $29 million to rebuild highways, $30 million to hire temporary workers to help with the cleanup. But lawmakers are just beginning to tally what is certain to be a multibillion-dollar bill for the federal government at a time of fiscal restraint.
At least initially, New York, New Jersey and other states most affected by the storm will be spared the traditional fights in Washington over disaster assistance, thanks to a little-noticed provision in last year’s budget agreement that arose from the debt-ceiling fight and resulted in Congress setting aside roughly $12 billion for disaster relief.
The Federal Emergency Management Office has $7.5 billion to spend this fiscal year, and an additional $5 billion could be made available with no spending offsets required in other government programs.
While that will help in the short term, the East Coast states hit by the giant storm will almost certainly request billions in additional federal dollars, which would require appropriations by Congress and could set off partisan — or geographic — wrangling and stir longstanding concerns about fraud and waste.
New York state officials have already started to apply pressure on the federal government to cover a greater share of the rebuilding cost than is provided under the law, seeking 100 percent reimbursement for major infrastructure projects compared with the 75 percent automatically provided in major disasters. State officials have also talked of an ambitious new sea wall system, with a possible price tag of at least $10 billion, that could protect New York from a future superstorm.
“Our counties are responding to the continued impacts of multibuilding fires, tunnel closures, power losses to hospitals and other critical infrastructure, destroyed homes and sheltered populations — all in the midst of historic flooding that has complicated emergency response operations exponentially,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wrote to President Obama on Wednesday.
Lawmakers from New York and elsewhere, perhaps wary of any requests for new federal spending that could become political fodder, so far are playing down the need for additional money. But when pressed, they acknowledge that they could soon follow.
“I think there is a very good chance we are going to need more than that,” Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in an interview Thursday of FEMA’s disaster-relief reserves. “But the immediate needs are being taken care of without people looking over their shoulders.”