GLO can resume Harvey repairs
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for state officials to resume their Hurricane Harvey home repair program in Houston, staying an appeals court ruling that had blocked the General Land Office from performing recovery work during its ongoing legal battle with the city.
The ruling, part of a lawsuit filed by Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration to block the GLO and Land Commissioner George P. Bush from taking over city recovery funds, effectively overturns a July 31 temporary restraining order issued by Texas’ Third Court of Appeals.
The appellate court had upheld a state district judge’s move to halt the land office recovery program within city limits while the legal proceedings continued. GLO officials, who administer housing repair programs in all other cities and counties that received federal Harvey aid, began accepting recovery applications from Houston homeowners in May — a move Turner had successfully blocked before Friday’s ruling.
Though the Texas Supreme Court has yet to make a final ruling on the lawsuit, GLO officials said the Friday order allows them to move ahead with the takeover by seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The lower court orders had blocked the GLO from submitting its takeover plan, which would give the agency control over $1.27 billion in grant funds, to the federal government.
At the heart of the litigation is the GLO’s contention that city officials’ single-family home repair program has operated at a sluggish pace that they say leaves residents unprepared for future storms and puts the funds at risk of being returned to the federal government. The city has accused the GLO of “slow-walking” the recovery process through bureaucratic maneuvers, such as failing to provide clear guidance early on.
Houston Housing Department Director Tom McCasland has said the city remains on track to spend its Harvey funds by the August 2024 deadline, despite completing just 76 single-family home repairs thus far. City officials also say their program has moved slower than the state’s because it prioritizes low-income, elderly and disabled residents, while the GLO administers its program on a first-come, first-served basis.
GLO officials have argued that they could operate the funds more efficiently, touting their progress in other Harvey-affected areas. A GLO spokeswoman said the agency had completed 1,810 home repairs across 48 counties outside Harris County.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who has been critical of the city’s recovery efforts, on Monday submitted an amicus brief with 13 other state Republican lawmakers in support of the GLO.
“Houstonians have spent the last three hurricane seasons waiting for the City of Houston to provide disaster recovery assistance, and with two storms in the Gulf next week, this is a poignant point,” Bettencourt said.
Turner said in a statement he was “disappointed that the Court, without explanation, analysis or even a hearing, chose to dissolve an injunction that the trial court issued after it heard two days of evidence, including admissions by the GLO that it was violating the law.”
He said that the city remains focused on helping homeowners and renters, “and Commissioner Bush’s attempt to take the money from the City demonstrates the State’s unconscionable and continuing efforts to slow Houston’s recovery,” Turner said.
In a statement, Bush encouraged Houston homeowners to apply if they are “still in need of assistance to repair or rebuild their homes.
“The GLO is providing repairs and reconstruction for homes to be more resilient against natural disasters, including elevating homes above flood level,” Bush said. “Our focus is to spread the word to Houstonians in need: Help is here to repair homes and rebuild lives.”