Letter to The Honorable Shaun Donovan, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary
Letter
Letter to The Honorable Shaun Donovan, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary
Sens. Cornyn, Hutchison To HUD Secretary: Release Remaining Ike & Dolly Funds; Waive Prohibition On Funding
"It is important that your action recognizes the necessary funding the State of Texas requires for rebuilding and recovery"
U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison today sent a letter to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan urging him to waive the prohibition on local communities' ability to use Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency's cost share match requirement under the Public Assistance program. As it stands today, local communities are restricted from using CDBG funding to satisfy the local match requirement. Sens. Cornyn and Hutchison are advocating for action on the part of Secretary Donovan because they believe local officials should be given much greater flexibility on how they spend disaster recovery dollars in a manner that best fits the needs of their communities.
Late last year, the Senators sent a letter to then-HUD Secretary Steve Preston asking the agency to release all of the remaining CDBG funding.
--The text of Sens. Cornyn and Hutchison's letter is below--
Dear Secretary Donovan:
We are writing to express our strong support for the State of Texas's request to waive the prohibition on the use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds appropriated in the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009 to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) cost share match requirement.
The match requirement for categories of Public Assistance has placed a tremendous financial strain on localities struggling to rebuild and recover from the 2008 hurricane season as they experience rising unemployment and a diminishing tax base in these challenging economic times. Waiving the prohibition on the use of CDBG funds to meet the match requirement would provide local officials with the resources and flexibility to spend disaster recovery dollars in a manner that best satisfies the needs of their community. The importance of providing options to reduce this financial burden cannot be overstated.
Also, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the first allocation of CDBG funding on November 26, 2008, with Texas receiving approximately $1.3 billion. We strongly urge that you quickly allocate and distribute the remaining CDBG appropriations. It is important that your action recognizes the necessary funding the State of Texas requires for rebuilding and recovery. The CDBG funding is a fundamental piece of this effort.
We appreciate your efforts to address our concerns in this letter. We will continue to work with you and the Administration as Texas recovery efforts continue.
Sincerely,
Sen. John Cornyn
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
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