Gator Press Printing Publishing Co. Galveston TXThe billions in long term disaster relief dollars that will fund Texans recovery from Hurricane Harveys devastating blow are still far from reaching state coffers. But theres already tension brewing over how much federal money  should be spent to fix flood victims homes and how much should go toward repairing government buildings and launching new flood control projects. Those critical choices will hinge on a key decision Who will control how the money is spent, the federal government or Texas State leaders want as few limitations as possible on what could be the biggest influx of federal recovery money to ever hit the state, arguing that officials in cities and counties battered by the storm know best whether money should go to individual households or public works projects. The states requests for flexibility  followed by Gov. Greg Abbotts Tuesday trip to Washington to deliver a 6. Harvey related infrastructure projects  have sparked alarm from veterans of previous battles over long term recovery funding. With the recent past as their guide, they fear homeowners and impoverished communities will get shortchanged in favor of large scale infrastructure projects that could have little connection to disaster recovery. They point to Hurricane Ike, which struck Galveston in 2. This week we have a son who doesnt know how to deal with his fathers oftenracist email chains. Self certification CDL and DOT Medical Card requirements for Texas DMV. What commercial drivers need to renew their medical certificate for Texas CDL. The College of Biblical Studies would like to provide financial support to our CBS family who have suffered losses due to Hurricane Harvey. This is not intended to. Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get. 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At the time, the state received 3 billion from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the federal agency that oversees long term rebuilding from natural disasters. A Texas Tribune review of projects funded with that money found it went to a wide range of purposes that local officials tied to disaster recovery, including building new community centers in at least eight different counties, replacing lights at a Little League baseball field, putting a new roof on a sports stadium, and restoring a beach pavilion. Yet almost 1. 0 years later, more than 5. Ike and Dolly recovery still hasnt been spent. The hard truth of this is there arent going to be enough resources to make everyone whole, there arent going to be enough resources to harden all the infrastructure, there just arent, said Maddie Sloan, a lawyer for Texas Appleseed, an advocacy nonprofit. So there have to be priorities set, and how priorities get set is a big deal. Some local officials have already begun to push for using long term recovery money from the federal housing department for infrastructure projects. At a meeting in Houstons flood prone Meyerland neighborhood last month, the citys chief resilience officer told a crowd of hundreds that officials are actively pursuing HUD money to use as the local contribution toward flood control projects that would also be funded through other federal sources. We can use HUD money for local shares of other stuff, Stephen Costello said. Meanwhile, more than 5. Texans are still displaced and living in hotel rooms, more than two months after Harvey slammed into the coast, dumped more than 5. More than 1. 49,0. An unknown number are living with family or friends or paying for their own short term housing needs. Its often the case that the needs of Texans to rebuild and recover dont rise to the same level of some of those government projects that people have in mind, said John Henneberger, co director of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service. How the money will flow. Abbott split long term disaster recovery efforts between the land office and a commission headed by Texas A M University Chancellor John Sharp. The two entities have told federal officials they need a collective 1. State leaders have also been clear that they arent expecting to get all they ask for. The land office is overseeing housing assistance programs, including long term recovery dollars that typically go toward rebuilding houses or repairing damaged apartments. But the land office is also overseeing infrastructure projects that could be funded from the same pot of money. The commission Sharp leads is focusing on flood control, roadways, water services projects and buying out or elevating flood prone houses. While Sharps commission compiled a 3. Texas coast, no state or federal agency has put together a comprehensive account of the damage Harvey did to Texans homes. Instead, state officials request for long term housing money is an estimate based on the number of households requesting immediate emergency aid, the average cost of a Texas house and how much money it cost to rebuild houses in previous disasters. Land office leaders readily admit that many Texans may not receive federal assistance to cover their losses from Harvey. Kaspersky Activation Key File 14 May With Workstation Ergonomics. They also say that for the cost of rebuilding a handful of damaged homes, they can pay for projects that can protect many more homes from future floods. So the locals need the ability to make that determination on whats the best way to benefit that particular area, said Pete Phillips, a senior director with the states General Land Office. But giving local elected leaders that level of discretion is what has some housing advocates worried. Thats absolutely what created the problems before, Henneberger said. State priorities challenged after Ike, Dolly. In many ways, concerns about the rebuilding process are rooted in Texas problematic history of disaster relief spending. The lump sum relief funds HUD gives states and local governments comes with some restrictions on how the money can be used. Those stipulations usually include how long the public has to weigh in on state and local plans for the funds, thresholds for how much must go toward housing rather than infrastructure and a minimum amount that must be spent to help low and moderate income disaster victims. The goal is not to hand everybody a little bit of money, Henneberger said. The goal is to make sure that the limited amount of money can help those who could not otherwise recover. After Ike and Dolly, the state put two separate agencies one for housing and one for non housing projects in charge of overseeing local governments use of the money. Local officials quickly used that money to rebuild infrastructure, while a large portion of the money that should have gone to help Texans rebuild their homes remains unspent nearly a decade later. At the time, monitoring reports from the federal housing department blamed that slow trickle of money for housing on bureaucratic chaos at the state level. Gov. Rick Perry blamed the delays on the federal government. A year after Ike and Dolly hit, Hennebergers and Sloans nonprofits accused Texas officials of violating fair housing laws and HUDs own rules for spending disaster funds. The advocacy groups said in a complaint to HUD that the state used flawed data in deciding how to split relief money between public works projects and Texans whose homes were damaged by the hurricanes. They also said the state effectively steered resources away from hurricane victims by awarding a 1. In a May 2. 01. 0 agreement between the state and the nonprofits, the federal housing department forced Texas to rework its plan for the relief funds. The department also increased the amount of money that Texas was required to spend on lower income residents and ordered the state to use more than 2. Texans. Today, 2. Ike and Dolly money is earmarked for housing recovery. That includes money set aside for public housing in Galveston, where plans for affordable units have been mired in opposition from other residents, politics and federal complaints for years. While the state holds the money and ensures recipients spend it according to HUDs parameters, its up to local governments like cities and counties to turn those dollars into construction projects. The General Land Office has managed the funds since 2.