Comment misleads on Hurricane Sandy relief bill

“Two-thirds of the (Hurricane Sandy relief) bill had nothing to do with

Sandy.” — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Monday, Aug. 28, in an MSNBC interview

Cruz said he enthusiastically backed aid for Sandy’s victims, but the problem was the particular bill. “It became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork,” Cruz said on Aug. 28.

Did two-thirds of the Sandy money have nothing to do with that storm?

No. There was some padding, but the data and the assessment of those who studied the bill say the extras amounted to far less than Cruz stated.

Cruz’s office sent us its breakout of the 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act to support the assertion that “nearly 70 percent” was “used for non-emergency spending.”

Cruz said the bulk of the money had nothing to do with Sandy. That’s considerably stronger than saying the money went for “non-emergency spending.”

The list from Cruz highlighted $16 billion to the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Community Development Fund. Cruz’s office said that included “any major disaster declarations from 2011, 2012 and 2013.” The funds largely went to the states hit by Sandy. According to HUD, $12.8 billion has been granted to New Jersey, New York and New York City. Add in other east coast states where Sandy did damage — Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — and the total reaches $13 billion.

So you could argue that the bucket leaked, but not nearly on the scale flagged by Cruz’s office.

Our ruling

The data and the assessment of experts show that the bulk of the funds went to the places hit hardest by Sandy. There was a leaky bucket, but not at the level Cruz declared.

We rate this claim Mostly False.

Ted Cruz