(Washington, DC) – Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Congressman Garret Graves (LA-06), Congressman David Rouzer (NC-07), and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) introduced an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act that passed the House with bipartisan support, 393 to 20, along with the bill. The amendment requires the rules governing the release of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program (CDBG-DR) funds for mitigation projects in Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and Puerto Rico be published in the Federal Register within 14 days of enactment.

In 2018, Congress appropriated $28 billion in CDBG-DR funds to rebuild after disasters and mitigate against future storms. $4.383 billion of those funds were allocated to Texas. More than a year later, Texas does not have the funds Congress appropriated because HUD has not published the rules governing their use in the Federal Register. This bipartisan amendment sets a time frame for publication to ensure that the rules are promulgated quickly and CDBG-DR funds can reach those they are intended to help as soon as possible.

“Congress appropriated more than $4 billion of much-needed Harvey recovery funds through CDBG-DR grant funds. Congress acted quickly, and expected the agency tasked with administering the funds to act quickly, too,” Congresswoman Fletcher said. “Unfortunately, that has not been the case with these CDBG-DR funds. With hurricane season right around the corner, there is much work still to do, and we need these funds to do it. This amendment will help our area and others recovering from disasters get the funding needed to rebuild.”

In February of this year, Congresswoman Fletcher, Congressman Pete Olson, Governor Abbott, Senators Cruz and Cornyn, and other members of the Texas delegation sent a letter to the acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget requesting that he expedite the publication of the rules.