Northeast Florida delegation bands together to push for Irma relief

Jacksonville, FL — Congress may soon have to look at passing more relief funding, with three major hurricanes causing widespread devastation over just the last few weeks.

Today, House Speaker Paul Ryan and a few key lawmakers got a look at some of that damage first hand.

Ryan toured Jacksonville’s Riverside and San Marco areas and got a briefing at the Duval Emergency Operations Center, among other things. While he did not take questions from Jacksonville reporters, Florida Congressmen stayed behind once Ryan left for South Florida to speak about the significance of the stop.

“It’s about safety, about what happened in this area, how can we get resources down here as quick as we can to put people’s lives back together,” says Northeast Florida Democratic Representative Al Lawson.

He wasn’t the only one to note that the push right now has no party lines.

“I think you see a great delegation here, bipartisan. This is not a Republican or Democratic issue, it is a Florida issue, but more importantly, it brings out the spirit of America,” says Northeast Florida Republican Congressman Ted Yoho.

The Reps believe it's important to have Ryan- as well as prominent lawmakers in Appropriations and Homeland Security- see what the River City went through, ahead of what will likely be another pass at disaster relief funding in the coming weeks. Our Washington Insider Jamie Dupree says Ryan has already indicated he expects another aid package to come up next month.

“These communities who have to expend a lot of resources for things like debris removal need to have that money reimbursed in a timely fashion,” says Northeast Florida Republican Representative Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis says they are working on cutting back the bureaucracy that it stopping money from getting down to the cities and counties putting money forward for disaster relief. The City of Jacksonville says they have not yet received millions of dollars in reimbursements from FEMA from Hurricane Matthew last year, but Northeast Florida Congressman John Rutherford says they’ve now worked through the problems between the state and federal government, and that funding should be coming in the next few weeks. Rutherford wants the conversation to go even past the price tag, though.

“We have to start looking at how to create some prevention and intervention for these areas that we know are going to flood,” Rutherford says.

Several other Florida Congressmen joined in that call, saying undergrounding electric lines needs to be a serious conversation. JEA has previously said they're in favor of that change, but it's a costly measure. City Councilwoman Lori Boyer was also involved in today's meetings, speaking specifically to some of the local impacts from Irma and Matthew, and what the City needs.

DeSantis also praised President Trump for the support so far, and many lawmakers commended Governor Rick Scott for his organization ahead of the storm.

Overall, when asked if the delegation got any specific promises from Ryan as a result of this visit, Rutherford says they did- that the federal government would continue to provide support.

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio was among those touring the damage with Ryan, but he left with Ryan to Miami without taking questions. He has previously joined with Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in calling for various forms of aid and relief to the communities impacted by this storm.