Local elected officials expressed their disappointment Thursday in additional federal disaster aid for Southwest Louisiana being left out of the House-approved omnibus spending bill.

Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said in a statement that he wasn’t surprised at the hurricane relief not being included in the $1.5 trillion spending plan approved by the House late Wednesday. The Senate has until Friday to vote on the bill and avoid a partial government shutdown. However, the House also approved a short-term measure that would extend current funding through March 15 and give the Senate more time, if needed, to approve the bill and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Hunter and other local elected leaders have called the omnibus spending bill a last ditch effort to secure federal dollars for long-term recovery from Hurricanes Laura and Delta. Last September, Congress approved $600 million in federal relief for those hurricanes, but local officials have repeatedly said that amount doesn’t come close to meeting long-term needs.

“Since day one after Hurricane Laura, this community has received hollow promises and empty gestures from members of both major political parties,” Hunter said. “The process for supplemental disaster aid is extremely political, and it seems as if our political clout here in Southwest Louisiana was not sufficient enough to warrant the type of equitable response that other communities have received in the past.”

Tony Stelly, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury president, said in a statement that recovery is ongoing, but has been “unnecessarily arduous due to lack of appropriate disaster aid.”

“Simply put, the continued failure to appropriate adequate aid for the disasters that devastated Southwest Louisiana over a year and a half ago is hard to believe,” Stelly said.

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., issued a statement Wednesday, saying he would vote against the omnibus spending bill. He said it was unacceptable to leave out long-term federal disaster aid for Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Ida.

“It is yet another reason why I cannot support this bill,” Higgins said.

U.S. Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., have offered an amendment to the spending package to include $2.5 billion for disaster aid. Cassidy said he will vote against the spending bill if it does not include disaster relief for Louisiana.

“I will not stop trying to secure this relief,” Cassidy said in a statement.

Kennedy said the additional funding would “address major housing needs in Southwest Louisiana and communities across the state.”

“Louisianaians are hardworking, but they’re hurting,” he said. “They shouldn’t face rebuilding after these historic hurricanes alone. The White House knows this and has failed to act.”

No matter the outcome, Hunter said there is no scenario where Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana doesn’t recover from Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

“The road will be longer and a bit rockier than it should be, but I would take the caliber and character of the people here over $1 billion from the federal government any day of the week,” he said. “We will make the best with what we have and find a way.”