Considering how hard it is to get money for recovery from the federal government, it comes as an unpleasant surprise to read about how much money is not getting used in a timely or appropriate way. Here are two examples that came to my attention this week:
(1) Money not spent post Katrina: 8 Years After Katrina MS has 872M in Federal Recovery Funds Unspent. Thanks to Laurie Johnson, who wrote “I find it so interesting how political the process can still be even at this late date in the recovery. Congress mandated an early closeout after 9-11, but …
(2) HUD Faces Heat for Waste/Questionable Spending.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development disburses more than $40 billion in taxpayer money a year. Like a lot of federal agencies, HUD took a hit with mandatory budget cuts under sequestration. But even at a time of financial belt-tightening, the agency is facing heat for waste and questionable spending.
***. The agency’s inspector general criticized a program that gave many Louisiana residents $30,000 apiece to prepare their homes for the next hurricane. Twenty-four thousand people spent the money on something else, but no one knows on what.
“We spend three quarters of a billion dollars to pay people to elevate their home that didn’t do it,” McHenry said.
And there are billions of dollars in disaster relief sitting in bank accounts unused, including money for Hurricane Katrina relief dating back to 2005.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, argues that sequestration has left HUD with fewer people to do oversight.
“I don’t think we can overlook the fact that HUD is understaffed. I don’t think we can overlook the fact that sequestration has had an impact on HUD and is having an impact on many of HUD’s programs,” he said.
HUD Inspector General David Montoya, who uncovered the waste, says states and cities that receive the billions are also to blame for lax controls.
“It is our fundamental belief — and, I believe, HUD’s – that these localities should also take responsibility for proper oversight in the management of those programs.
HUD wouldn’t agree to an interview but told us it carefully “monitors the activities” of recipients all over the country and promptly fixes any problems.
Meantime, as of the end of March, not one penny of $5.4 billion in HUD money for Superstorm Sandy relief had been spent. And believe it or not, more than $500 million meant for the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks still hasn’t been touched – 12 years later.
NOTE: I added the emphasis in the quotes above, to show there is blame to be placed at every level of government. Sadly, the secondary effects of sequestration include eroding competence and accountability.
Recovery Diva 
It’s really true that spending money (appropriately) can be even more work than getting the funds for recovery or (dare I say it) disaster prevention.
This is an aspect of grantsmanship that rarely gets any attention. Nor is it part of most education or training programs, as far as I know. This is a deficiency that should be corrected. Grants management should be a required course!
Claire:-
While your final line probably is true, note that all of the examples of lax oversight you provide predate the sequester. In my experience, federal oversight is generally hit-or-miss. Even agencies that should ALWAYS do a good job (e.g., FDA) occasionally have things fall through the cracks. For too many other agencies the attitude seems to be, “Oh, well. We’re only wasting money.”
I also find it somewhat ironic that many criticized Congress earlier this year for not voting for Sandy relief immediately, and yet none of the money has been spent yet.
My experience with federal grants and contracts has been that it takes years before they do an audit. It appears that audits will be less frequent and less thorough than before. That makes about as much sense as cutting back money for the IRS to do audits of tax returns!
It is sad that communities that really need help after a disaster will have a hard time getting and spending money — sounds like a battle for every inch of progress. Recovery really does not need to be made any harder to do, in my opinion.