Letter to Hon. Marcia Fudge, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Sen. Ted Cruz Urges the Department of Housing and Urban Development to End Delay of Hurricane Harvey Mitigation Funds

Statement

Dear Secretary Fudge:

In August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey decimated the state of Texas, dumping nearly 60 inches of rain, claiming 68 lives and causing an estimated $125 billion worth of damage. Hurricane Harvey was the most economically destructive hurricane in the history of the state and the second-most expensive hurricane in American history.

Despite a historic response from Congress nearly four years ago--providing $28 billion in Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery funding for Hurricane Harvey and other disasters--survivors all across the state of Texas are still waiting on Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mitigation funding.

Earlier this month, HUD disapproved the Texas General Land Office's (GLO) Action Plan Amendment that provided $750 million to Harris County and more than $600 million in additional funding to the council of governments (COGs) affected by Hurricane Harvey for mitigation projects. HUD's disapproval will only further delay this critical funding from reaching communities across the state and delay the start of projects that will help protect Texans from future disasters.

The January 7, 2022 disapproval of the State's Action Plan Amendment raises a number of questions. I respectfully request your full and complete responses to the questions below within thirty (30) days.

1. The GLO provided a 628-page analysis which includes the paperwork and data requested in the Action Plan including a breakdown of protected classes by county and service area for each awardee. If HUD considered the level of data and analysis provided by GLO as not reaching the required "meaningful" threshold and therefore "substantially incomplete," please explain what specific information HUD is seeking and specifically how it wants this information presented.

2. Please explain why in the grant agreement HUD did not explain in greater detail the type of information it is seeking as well as any other form requirements in order to meet its definition of "meaningful analysis."

3. Please provide a list of other instances where HUD has required the level of analysis requested from GLO. In your response, please provide examples of the data and information provided by other grantees that met HUD's "meaningful analysis" standard.

4. Currently, GLO has awarded $1.2 billion in mitigation funding for more than 108 projects in 47 counties across southeast Texas through its State Mitigation Competition program. Will HUD's disapproval of the Action Plan Amendment delay any of the funding already awarded to Texas projects through the mitigation competitions or prevent any preliminary work, such as survey and design work, on these projects from continuing?

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. I look forward to working with you to make sure that the state of Texas and all of the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey and other disasters are no longer waiting for this relief provided by Congress.

Sincerely,

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