Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
20,
2017
FOR
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
A
first
big
step,
but
a
lot
of
questions
remain:
HUD
announces
the
allocation
to
Texas
of
$5.024
billion
in
federal
disaster
funds
for
recovery
from
Hurricane
Harvey
Meanwhile
the
White
House
proposes
plan
to
offset
costs
with
deeper
cuts
to
domestic
programs
that
have
already
been
slashed.
Texas
will
receive
$5.024
billion
in
long-term
federal
rebuilding
funds
to
recover
from
Hurricane
Harvey,
the
U.S.
Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development
announced
today.
These
funds,
known
as
CDBG-DR
are
part
of
$7.4
billion
appropriated
by
Congress
in
September.
The
Texas
Low
Income
Housing
Information
Service
(Texas
Housers)
and
Texas
Appleseed
note
that
these
funds
will
not
be
enough
to
meet
the
needs
of
all
the
Texans
who
are
trying
to
rebuild
their
homes
or
find
affordable
rental
housing.
The
rules
for
using
the
funds
will
be
published
in
the
federal
register
in
the
near
future.
Some
state
officials
have
already
called
for
waiving
CDBG
requirements
that
prioritize
the
rebuilding
of
homes
of
low-
and
moderate-income
people,
balance
housing
and
infrastructure
needs,
and
provide
opportunity
for
public
comment.
That
would
be
wrong.
We
are
encouraged
to
hear
Texas
Land
Commissioner
George
P.
Bush
declare
today
that
the
states
plan
for
the
$5.024
billion
grant
will
focus
on
temporary
housing
and
repairing
damaged
homes.
But
we
remain
concerned
that
the
funds
may
be
diverted
for
other
purposes
and
less
urgent
unmet
needs.
We
will
monitor
the
states
recovery
process
to
ensure
that
all
families
share
equitably
in
the
recovery.
The
focus
must
absolutely
remain
on
survivors
and
rebuilding
their
homes.
said
John
Henneberger,
co-
director
of
the
Texas
Low
Income
Housing
Information
Service.
And
it
will
not
be
a
successful
recovery
unless
the
funds
are
spent
to
permit
all
Texans
to
have
an
opportunity
to
get
back
in
their
homes.
There
has
been
a
lot
of
talk
here
in
Texas
of
big
wish
list
projects
for
big
business
and
government
agencies.
They
need
to
get
in
line
behind
Texas
homeowners
and
renters
who
need
these
federal
funds
to
get
on
with
their
lives.
Last
month,
Gov.
Greg
Abbott
requested
$61
billion
for
283
projects.
Only
a
fraction
of
that
request
was
for
direct
assistance
to
Texas
families.
HUD
made
todays
allocation
based
on
information
from
FEMA
and
the
Small
Business
Administration
that
recorded
the
number
of
seriously
damaged
homes
lacking
adequate
insurance
and
businesses
that
failed
to
qualify
for
SBAs
disaster
loan
program.
HUD
found
that
more
than
230,000
homes
sustained
damage,
and
about
65,000
suffered
serious
damage.
Texas
needs
to
prioritize
unmet
needs,
said
Madison
Sloan,
Director
of
Disaster
Recovery
and
Fair
Housing
at
Texas
Appleseed,
because,
even
if
there
are
subsequent
funding
allocations,
there
will
not
be
enough
funds
to
address
all
our
recovery
and
mitigation
needs.
If
the
entire
allocation
of
funds
were
used
to
repair
and
rebuild
homes,
there
would
only
be
about
$17,000
to
repair
or
rebuild
each
damaged
and
seriously
damaged
home,
with
no
funds
for
temporary
housing,
small
businesses
or
infrastructure.
We
also
need
to
be
smart
about
rebuilding,
Sloan
said.
We
need
to
get
people
back
into
housing,
but
we
need
to
make
sure
that
housing
is
in
safe
areas
and
rebuilt
to
withstand
future
disasters.
The
White
House
proposes
offsetting
this
disaster
recovery
funding
and
any
future
allocations
by
cutting
funding
for
domestic
programs.
This
fails
to
take
into
account
that
funding
levels
for
non-defense
programs
are
already
being
slashed.
Further
cuts
to
these
funds
that
help
Texans
in
both
the
disaster
impacted
counties
and
in
other
parts
of
the
state
meet
basic
needs,
such
as
shelter
and
food,
would
devastate
families.
There
is
an
ongoing
affordable
housing
crisis
in
Texas
wholly
apart
from
the
disaster.
This
disaster
cannot
be
paid
for
on
the
backs
of
the
poor
and
middle
class.
We
also
remain
concerned
for
other
Americans
impacted
by
disasters
in
Florida,
California,
the
Virgin
Islands
and
especially
Puerto
Rico.
Congress
and
the
Administration
must
provide
the
money
it
takes
for
these
regions
as
well.
We
call
on
our
Texas
Congressional
delegation
to
fight,
not
just
for
Texas,
but
for
a
full
and
fair
recovery
for
everyone
in
our
United
States.
###
Texas
Low
Income
Housing
Information
Service,
or
Texas
Housers,
is
a
nonprofit
501(c)(3)
corporation
established
in
Austin
in
1988
by
a
concerned
group
of
community
leaders,
nonprofit,
public
and
private
housing
providers
and
low
income
people.
Texas
Housers
responds
to
problems
and
opportunities
where
we
can
apply
our
resources
to
develop
model
solutions
to
solve
critical
housing
and
community
development
problems.
Texas
Appleseed
is
a
public
interest
justice
center
that
works
to
change
unjust
laws
and
policies
that
prevent
Texans
from
realizing
their
full
potential.
Our
nonprofit
conducts
data-driven
research
that
uncovers
inequity
in
laws
and
policies
and
identifies
solutions
for
lasting,
concrete
change.
For
more
information,
visit
www.TexasAppleseed.org