Letter to the Hon. William Long, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency - Rep. Soto Leads Bipartisan Letter Requesting FEMA Housing Program Extension for Puerto Rican Arrivals in Central Florida

Letter

Dear Administrator Long:

We write to urge your agency to approve the expansion of the Direct Lease program, or in the alternative, to extend the Temporary Shelter Assistance (TSA) program beyond the January 15, 2018 deadline for the evacuees of Hurricane Maria currently residing in Florida. As a host state, Florida has received over 250,000 evacuees from Puerto Rico. However, the state of Florida and its local governments have been unable to provide affordable housing due to limited resources.

As you know, the Puerto Rican government has not requested approval from FEMA for the Direct Lease program. As a result, we request these funds directly for Florida as a host state. This is a direct detriment to the state of Florida and the evacuees from Puerto Rico. Despite Florida's best efforts to assist Puerto Rican evacuees, Florida's local and state governments lack a sufficient supply of housing to accommodate the recent, and anticipated, arrivals of evacuees from Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican evacuees in Florida need housing. Florida need assistance to support the housing needs of the Puerto Rican evacuees. Therefore, we respectfully request that you approve the Direct Lease program for the Puerto Rican evacuees in Florida, or in the alternatives, extend the TSA program past the January 15, 2018 deadline for a minimum of six months. We thank you for continued attention to this ongoing matter.

Sincerely,