Dear Neighbor,
It has been another eventful week across our country and in our community. Here is a wrap-up of my week.
On Tuesday, I joined the family of Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, Commissioner Adrian Garcia, and Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, and other community leaders for the dedication of a portion of the Sam Houston Toll Road in honor of Deputy Dhaliwal. I am glad the community he protected and served will have this permanent reminder of his dedication and sacrifice for us all.
Most other meetings this week were virtual! I was glad to visit with local bankers and CPAs, and CPAs across the country, in telephone town halls about the PPP program and other matters before Congress. I appreciated an update from many local companies on their efforts to assist in our response to the coronavirus pandemic with the American Chemistry Council.
Virtual Roundtable with the American Chemistry Council |
I also enjoyed visiting with local doctors with the American College of Cardiology to discuss health care legislation; local faith leaders about rising intolerance and discrimination; local counselors about substance abuse and its impact on our community, among others.
As I mentioned last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released its post-Harvey study on solutions for flood mitigation in the Buffalo Bayou watershed. This week, I sent a letter to Assistant Secretary James asking to extend the public comment period for the Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study Interim Report until December 2, 2020. This report evaluates both upstream and downstream alternative plans to reduce flood risk in our district, and it is vital that our community have enough time to participate in the review process. You can read my letter to the USACE here, and you can read and comment on the report here.
I was glad to announce this week that The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research at Memorial Hermann (TIRR-MH) has been awarded $1 million in federal funding to support the Independent Living Research Utilization program (ILRU). The ILRU is a nationally leading technical assistance and training center, supporting over 400 centers for independent living and 56 statewide and territorial independent living programs. Along with supporting independent living center that people with disabilities and older Americans rely on, this award will help prevent layoffs of critical staff. I was proud to advocate for these funds.
As a reminder to students in our district, the Congressional App Challenge is still underway, and you have until October 19 to register and to submit your app! The Challenge is specifically designed to promote innovation and engagement in computer science, and it is open to all middle and high school students in our district. Anyone interested can learn more here.
As of Friday, there have been more than 150,00 confirmed cases of COVID19 in Houston and Harris County. The positivity rate is at 6%, meaning our country is still under COVID-19 Threat Level One. As a reminder, that means that at this level, outbreaks are still present and our community must actively work to lower the spread of COVID-19 whenever possible by wearing masks, washing our hands, and practicing social distancing.
If you have questions about testing in Harris county, you can check for a mobile testing site closest to you and register for free testing here or call (832) 927-7575.
While the target end date of the Census has changed several times, the target goal has not: making sure that you count.
What exactly does this mean for our community? I commissioned a report by the Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on why a complete Census count is essential for our district, and it found that missing just 1 person in our district could:
- Reduce health care funding by $1,161 per year;
- Reduce education funding by $1,549; and
- Reduce funding for job training programs by $237.
An undercount of just 1 percent in our district would result in the loss of:
- $8.1 million in federal funding for health care;
- $468,000 in federal funding for schools; and
- $226,000 in federal funding for job training programs.
In the last Census, 16 million people were not counted, and experts fear that an undercount in 2020 could be even larger. Approximately 26 percent of people in our district live in communities that were hard to count in 2010. With Census data used to distribute more than $1.5 trillion in federal funding across the country, we have to make sure that everyone in our community is counted to make sure we get our fair share of resources.
You can read the full report on the Census in our district here. As a reminder, we have until October 31 to complete the census. To respond online, go to https://my2020census.gov or call 844-330-2020.
And please share this message with everyone you know!
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If you have any questions or concerns – on the Census, on COVID-19 in our community, or anything else – don’t hesitate to contact me at (713) 353-8680 or email me here. I am proud to represent you, and I am here to help you. At this important and challenging time, I hope you will let me know how I can.
Best wishes,
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