Inheriting a disaster: How will next governor lead hurricane recovery?
control triggered by a disaster — are nearly nonexistent. Florida caps assistance to workers who lose their jobs due to a disaster at $275 a week, not even the equivalent of minimum wage.
To understand how this inequality plays out on the ground, recall Hurricane Irma, which tore through the state last year, causing damage estimated at $50 billion — the state’s most costly disaster. The human cost was also profound, as people struggled to rebuild their lives. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable often did so with little help from the government. Only 53 percent of eligible workers received disaster unemployment assistance, a cash benefit for those who lose their jobs because of a disaster. Tens of thousands stood in lines for hours at four South Florida sites in the heat to receive disaster food stamps, assistance to buy groceries and other food items, only to be turned away.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, the pattern repeats. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, a state agency akin to the Department of Labor and Department of Commerce rolled into one, published just two tweets about the disaster unemployment assistance program for workers who lost their jobs, but 10 tweets about assistance available for small businesses — including mobile units deployed to disaster areas.
To protect the most vulnerable Floridians from the lasting impacts of disasters, we must fix the social safety net, so it can support working people who lose their jobs after storms. Disaster unemployment assistance can be the difference between a family being able to pay the rent or becoming homeless. The next governor can work to raise Florida’s cap on unemployment assistance.
The governor should also simplify the process to apply for disaster unemployment. The online system ought to be easy to navigate and not, as it is currently configured, lock people out if they give one “wrong” answer to questions written in legalese. Outreach to impacted communities needs to be robust, and call centers staffed by multilingual navigators who can answer questions from applicants.
This can be done: In 1992, after Hurricane Andrew, 90 percent of those eligible for disaster unemployment received it. Compare that to last year, when just 53 percent of eligible Irma victims received assistance. Disaster unemployment, along with disaster food stamps, offers relief to families at their time of greatest need. They should be generous and easy to access, and not become yet another impossible headache.
Some may criticize the notion of an expanded social safety net, saying that jobs, not welfare, are the solution. They could support our next governor in capitalizing on the momentum of the current movement for New Deal-style publicly funded jobs, as exemplified by Cory Booker’s Federal Job Guarantee Development Act. The next governor should also use existing work-force development or AmeriCorps funds to engage the unemployed and underemployed in high-need areas to mitigate climate change and repair, rebuild and prepare for the inevitable next disaster.
It shouldn’t take disasters to express our care for communities in poverty. But they are a call to action we must heed. Rising sea levels and ever-gathering storms demand a robust investment in new infrastructure — both physical and social — so that communities can withstand the climate disasters of the future.