Washington, D.C. — As climate change makes extreme weather events more common and more costly for Americans, the far right’s new authoritarian playbook, Project 2025, would leave communities with fewer resources to rebuild after disasters like Hurricane Debby strike. New analysis from the Center for American Progress finds that the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster loan program disproportionately aids affected individuals in Southern states on the Gulf Coast, such as Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, which are often hit the hardest by extreme weather events.
Some key takeaways include:
- Disasters are becoming more common and more costly: From 1980 to 1989, the federal government declared 286 disasters, whereas in the past 10 years—from 2014 to 2023—that number more than quadrupled to 1,267. Project 2025 also proposes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) increase the threshold for disaster declarations, thereby making it more difficult for states and localities—and, by extension, the families and businesses that call them home—to qualify for federal aid after disaster strikes.
- The total cost of billion-dollar disasters has spiked in the past 20 years: Since 2017, 341,569 disaster loans—totaling more than $28 billion—have been disbursed to affected applicants. According to Project 2025’s own analysis, 90 percent of this disaster aid serves individuals such as homeowners, as opposed to small businesses. So, while the program is a crucial resource for helping local economies bounce back, the loans play an even more critical role in helping individuals and families begin the long road to recovery.
- Hundreds of thousands of Americans rely on the SBA to help rebuild their lives after disasters: Since 2017, three states on the Gulf Coast—Florida, Texas, and Louisiana—consistently benefited the most in terms of absolute number of disaster loans. In total, over this period of time, the trio of states both had the highest number of loans approved and received the most aid.
“No one can stop disasters like Hurricane Debby from striking, but we can expect our government to be prepared to act swiftly and efficiently when they do—especially as these tragedies become more common and more devastating due to climate change,” said David Ballard, associate director for economic policy at CAP. “Instead, the far-right architects of Project 2025 would abandon American families and small businesses in a time of crisis, leaving them with fewer tools and resources to rebuild their lives.”
Read the column: “Project 2025 Proposes Eliminating Aid for Families and Businesses Rebuilding After Storms” by David Ballard
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Jasmine Razeghi at [email protected].