Arizona AG, 19 other states win court victory in suit to stop Trump from cutting FEMA funding

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, along with a coalition of 19 other states, won a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from cutting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) disaster preparedness funding.

The Thursday court ruling prevents the Trump administration’s attempt to have FEMA shut down its bipartisan Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which purpose is to protect communities from natural disasters before they happen. The decision also requires that the critical funds from the program be restored.

The BRIC program is the core of FEMA’s mitigation efforts that Congress mandated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“We’re winning case after case as we protect Arizonans from harm and rising prices that the Trump administration continues to illegally pursue,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a press release. “Arizonans will notice this victory the next time a wildfire or flood hits — thanks to the work of those in my office, our state will be prepared.”

According to Mayes, the court’s decision supports the coalition’s stance that the Executive Branch doesn’t have the legal authority to refuse the spending of funds appropriated by Congress.

The judge also concluded that FEMA shutting down BRIC violates the Separation of Powers, the Appropriations and Spending Clauses and the Administrative Procedures Act.

Why is the FEMA funding ruling important for Arizona?

Arizona had 25 projects that had been selected for BRIC grants, which totaled $9.8 million. Mayes said that approximately $1.2 million of the grant money was directed to the state to be used for salaries as well as other management costs.

However, the remaining funds from BRIC would be used to support disaster mitigation projects, including:

• A $4.6 million infrastructure project in Buckeye to divert floodwater away from the city’s historic downtown by connecting the drainage system to already existing irrigation canals and constructing a retention basin to collect the water.
• An approximately $860,000 flood mitigation project in Camp Verde that would secure a major roadway that emergency vehicles use to provide services to 5,000 residents and that residents use to access the town.

The BRIC program provides resources to communities across the United States so they can proactively strengthen their infrastructure against natural disasters.

The program supports projects that are typically difficult to fund like constructing evacuation shelters and floods walls or safeguarding utility grids against wildfires.

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