Florida Gov. Plans to Appeal After Obama Rejects Request for Emergency Aid

Post-Orlando, the Obama administration denied the state of Florida’s call for emergency funding. But, Florida Gov. Rick Scott will not be giving up on the request.

The Florida Gov. had cited the Stafford Act and requested $5 million in federal funds to help with “emergency response efforts, law enforcement response, emergency medical care, counseling services and other social services to assist victims.”

But, the federal government rejected the $5 million and instead only authorized $253,000 be given to the state as Orlando aid.

Following the fed’s decision, the Florida state government expressed being dissatisfied with the amount offered.

“It is incredibly disappointing that the Obama Administration denied our request for an Emergency Declaration. Last week, a terrorist killed 49 people, and wounded many others, which was the deadliest shooting in U.S. history.  It is unthinkable that President Obama does not define this as an emergency.  We are committing every state resource possible to help the victims and the community heal and we expect the same from the federal government,” said Scott in a press release.

He also took to Twitter to express his disappointment. “It is unthinkable that POTUS [President of the United States] does not define the Orlando terror attack, the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, as an emergency,” tweeted Scott.  

However, the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest defended the amount given on Tuesday.

“This particular incident took place within a defined period of time, unlike other major incidents that were ongoing and required additional emergency federal support,” said Earnest.

But, he also mentioned that there is potential for more funding assistance. “There may be additional federal assistance that can be provided to the state of Florida as they are dealing with what is admittedly a very difficult situation.”

This is good news for Florida because they plan to appeal.

“We are very disappointed in the response from federal government and we will be appealing the decision,” said Lauren Schenone, press secretary for the Republican governor.