Scott, Rubio Call for Logistics Improvement at NOAA

Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Marco Rubio sent a letter to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Janet Coit to call for the application of the Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Act (FREDI).

According to Sen. Scott’s press release, the bill has the potential to “improve the fishery disaster assistance process at the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service and restore confidence and faith in the fishery disaster assistance process by increasing transparency and user experience when applying for relief.”

Alongside Sen. Scott, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) wrote that before FREDI was put in place, the logistics of the NOAA online system was subpar.

Prior to the enactment of FREDI, the fishery disaster assistance process had been met with a high degree of frustration from stakeholders and policymakers,” wrote Sens. Scott, Rubio, and the lawmakers. “It was impossible to track the progress of a disaster assistance request through NOAA’s online system. Under FREDI, NOAA now has clear deadlines to make timely decisions for determinations and approval of spending plans, which stakeholders in our states are desperately waiting for.”

Moreover, they continued that tracking will allow better up-to-date information regarding data submission.

“We believe it is important for stakeholders to understand and track the step-by-step process for a fishery disaster request. This tracking would allow stakeholders to follow the process from submission of data to decisions made by NOAA and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Stakeholders would be able to follow the status of their request as each division of NOAA examines the data, just like consumers track packages through the shipping process from a vendor to delivery,” wrote the lawmakers.

Earlier in December, Sen. Scott's No Budget No Pay Act made the annual National Taxpayers Union (NTU) “No Brainers” list for the year 2023.

The bill would “prohibit Members of Congress from receiving their salaries if they fail to pass a concurrent budget resolution and the required appropriations bills by the start of each fiscal year.”

The Florida senator is seeking a second term in the upper chamber. He will most likely face off against former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL) in the general election.