Letter to Hon. Marcia Fudge - Crenshaw Urges HUD to Approve Allocation Request for Harris County Flood Control Projects, Stresses Need for Additional Funding

Letter

Dear Secretary Fudge,

We write you to you in strong support of the Texas General Land Office's (GLO) recent announcement that it will be submitting an amendment to its state action plan under the Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Program. On Wednesday, May 26, 2021, GLO Commissioner George P. Bush announced he is requesting a direct allocation of $750 million for Harris County, Texas.

These funds were originally appropriated by Congress in February 2018, in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123), with $4.3 billion allotted for recovery aid to Texas for Hurricane Harvey. The State Action Plan, approved by HUD in 2020, established a competitive grant program for the first tranche. GLO's amendment request will include the additional funding specifically for Harris County with the remainder to be allocated using a competitive process across the state of Texas.

Houston has experienced seven federally declared disasters in six years, impacting hundreds of thousands of citizens. Harris County, which includes the City of Houston, is the only identified county in the State of Texas to experience consecutive flooding disasters in 2015, 2016, and 2017. In August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey paralyzed our region, dumping nearly 60 inches of rain, claiming 68 lives, and causing an estimated $125 billion in damages across the state.

In light of this record, a direct allocation is certainly warranted. While this will not be the only funding required to mitigate flooding in the Houston region, it will be a major investment in preventing further flooding disasters. There are numerous shovel ready projects that can commence swiftly, bringing much needed relief to the people of Harris County and saving federal taxpayer dollars by avoiding more expensive recovery efforts in the future. This funding will help of our most vulnerable residents who have been waiting years for recovery funds.

We strongly urge you to approve the amendment to the current State Action Plan to ensure that Harris County receives these funds. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely