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New Texas plan for federal Hurricane Harvey aid: Funds diverted away from Gulf Coast
George P. Push is cheating the people who were most damaged by Harvey in favor of inland/white communities. Harris County was hit hard by Harvey but is getting almost no funds.
Link to tweet
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/16/texas-harvey-disaster-aid-land-office/?utm_campaign=trib-social&utm_content=1652828880&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
After the land office awarded $1 billion of the aid last year, giving the city of Houston nothing, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development accused Bush’s office of discriminating against Black and Latino Texans. The land office had an opportunity to correct these inequities as it developed a new spending plan.
But an analysis by The Texas Tribune found that the land office is on track to follow a similar pattern as it prepares to allocate the next $1.2 billion of the federal aid. The agency’s revised plan will once again send a disproportionately high share of money to inland counties with lower risk of natural disasters.
Residents in the counties that will benefit most are also significantly whiter and more conservative than those receiving the least aid, an outcome some Democrats view with suspicion as Bush competes for the Republican nomination for attorney general this month....
.
A Houston Chronicle investigation last year revealed the land office developed distribution criteria that discriminated against populous areas. As a result, aid flowed disproportionately to the group of inland counties selected by the state.
But an analysis by The Texas Tribune found that the land office is on track to follow a similar pattern as it prepares to allocate the next $1.2 billion of the federal aid. The agency’s revised plan will once again send a disproportionately high share of money to inland counties with lower risk of natural disasters.
Residents in the counties that will benefit most are also significantly whiter and more conservative than those receiving the least aid, an outcome some Democrats view with suspicion as Bush competes for the Republican nomination for attorney general this month....
.
A Houston Chronicle investigation last year revealed the land office developed distribution criteria that discriminated against populous areas. As a result, aid flowed disproportionately to the group of inland counties selected by the state.
Abbott played a role in this also. Texas republicans are using federal funds to reward rural white conservative counties and ignoring Harris County/Houston because it is a blue county that is not white enough for the GOP.