Texas leaders scrounge to boost Hurricane Harvey housing repairs, call on Congress to help

-
AUSTIN — Texas leaders, peppered with pleas from coastal leaders for fast action on Hurricane Harvey relief, announced Wednesday they will shift $38.6 million of state funds to jump-start housing reconstruction.
Effectively borrowing from next year's state budget, Gov. Greg Abbott and legislative leaders gave "cash flow" funds to six federally funded, short-term housing programs being administered by state Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
Also, Abbott joined governors from California, Florida and Puerto Rico in urging leaders of Congress to quickly wrap up work on a "substantial" package of additional federal disaster-relief funds.
"While no longer front page news in Washington D.C., ongoing suffering becomes more acute the longer Congress waits," the four governors wrote.
Last month, the U.S. House passed a bill that would have sent $81 billion in federal aid to areas affected by recent hurricanes and wildfires. However, the U.S. Senate hasn't acted.
In November, President Donald Trump requested $44 billion of storm aid for all of the affected areas — an amount Abbott decried as "inadequate." Abbott and Texas' congressional delegation have sought $61 billion for the Gulf Coast alone.
By some estimates, Texas has received $11 billion in federal aid, significantly less than the $115 billion allocated after Hurricane Katrina and the $56 billion after Hurricane Sandy.
Through November, state agencies and higher education institutions reported spending nearly $1.8 billion on Harvey, according to the Legislative Budget Board, a group of key GOP lawmakers who closely track the state budget. One-fifth of the $1.8 billion was state funds; the rest, federal.

Postingan populer dari blog ini

ames Franco was airbrushed out of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood cover after sexual misconduct allegations

-
Gambar
AMES Franco was removed from Vanity Fair's star-studded Hollywood cover after he was accused of sexual misconduct. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor, 39, sat for the Annie Leibovitz photoshoot and was interviewed for the special edition.   But it says the actor was removed digitally before publication. The publication quoted a magazine spokesman as saying: "We made a decision not to include James Franco on the Hollywood cover once we learned of the misconduct allegations against him." The Disaster Artist actor was accused of sexual misconduct, in a report in the Los Angeles Times, by five women. He has denied allegations against him, calling them "not accurate   The Crown star Claire Foy appears alongside a host of big screen heavyweights including Nicole Kidman, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro and Harrison Ford on the US magazine's annual fold-out cover. Michael B Jordan, Zendaya, Jessica Chastain, Mi
Baca selengkapnya

Harden Scores 48, Lillard 35 as Rockets Beat Blazers in Shootout

-
Gambar
The Portland Trail Blazers faced the Houston Rockets tonight without the services of center Jusuf Nurkic, recovering from an ankle injury. For three quarters, it didn’t look like they’d miss him. Damian Lillard hit threes like they were layups. Portland’s patchwork lineup hustled to fast break points and forced turnovers. If they couldn’t out-muscle or out-talent the Rockets, they’d simply outscore them. But even in the midst of amazing runs, the Blazers had no answer for James Harden and Chris Paul. When the game hung in the balance in the fourth quarter, the Rockets trailing by 14, those two superstars keyed a 40-19 period to put their team in the lead. As Houston bore down, Portland’s 60% shooting from the field slipped towards 50%...brilliant on any other night against any other team, but not enough to preserve the victory. Despite dead-eye marksmanship and a spirit effort, the Blazers watched the Rockets exit with a 124-117 win, completing a humbling 0-4 home stand an
Baca selengkapnya