Key Vote NO on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, H.R. 5687

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote NO on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, H.R. 5687. The supplemental appropriations bill is projected to cost $20.77 billion. The budget deficit for FY 2020 is already expected to exceed $1 trillion.

The additional appropriations in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act would spend an additional $4.67 billion in FY 2020. While we understand that this is for emergency disaster relief, question both whether it is necessary to appropriate new funds whether they will even be put to good use, considering that a) there is $34.846 billion left in the Disaster Relief Fund and b) that it recently came to light that unused resources provided after Hurricane Maria in September 2017 were discovered in a warehouse in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act also includes provisions that have little to do with aid to Puerto Rico. Division B would encourage Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and other territories of the United States to expand their child tax credit (CTC) and earned income tax credit (EITC). The bill includes other provisions that have nothing to do with disaster relief.

As the Congressional Budget Office recently noted, the budget deficit for FY 2020 is expected to exceed $1 trillion. Between FY 2021 and FY 2030, the budget deficit will average $1.3 trillion annually. By the end of the ten-year budget window, and long after the individual tax cuts and pass-through businesses changes are scheduled to expire, the budget deficit will reach $1.7 trillion. Congress must get spending under control, not spend more money that we do not have.

FreedomWorks will count the vote on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, H.R. 5687, when calculating our Scorecard for 2020 and reserves the right to score any related votes and weight any votes. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,

Adam Brandon, President, FreedomWorks