Houston lawmakers press Senate for storm relief
Political bickering keeps funds in limbo, delaying recovery
WASHINGTON — In a sign of mounting frustration, a group of Houston-area lawmakers from both political parties joined in a letter to Senate leaders Friday demanding “prompt” action on an $81 billion disaster relief package that has been held up in partisan gridlock since December.
With all signs pointing to another postponement of disaster aid bogged down in a broader fight over spending, a border wall and immigration, a dozen House members from Texas signed on to the letter pleading for Senate action on a House-passed bill providing recovery funds for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters.
“This bill was sent to the Senate for consideration in December,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter initiated by Sugar Land Republican Pete Olson, whose district was severely hit by Harvey’s flooding. “We are now entering February with no action by the U.S. Senate. We write asking for prompt consideration. … We have constituents who after almost six months, remain in transitional housing and homes that lack weatherization as Texas remains in the grip of an unusually cold winter. It is past time for Congress to act.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lent his support as well.
“Governor Abbott shares the frustration of the House members and our fellow Texans that much-needed federal disaster aid is getting bogged down in Washington,” his spokeswoman, Ciara Matthews, said Friday. “The governor joins them in urging the Senate to approve and expeditiously pass the promised supplemental funding package.”
The House passed the disaster aid package on Dec. 21, but in the Senate the money remains mired in a series of stop-gap funding measures tied to the ongoing partisan battle over immigration and the legal status of “Dreamers,” young people brought into the country illegally as children.
Non-storm provisions
A temporary funding agreement stemming from last month’s brief government shutdown expires Thursday. But absent a deal on spending caps and the fate of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), congressional negotiators are now looking at another extension until later in the month.
One sticking point has been the demand from the Trump administration and some deficit hawks in the Senate that the disaster assistance be offset by cuts in other parts of the budget.
Another unresolved issue involves a controversial provision extending new cotton subsidies as part of the House disaster aid package. Critics have questioned whether changes to a major farm commodity program rightfully belong in an emergency spending measure intended to help storm victims.
The cotton provisions were championed in the House by Republican U.S. Reps. Jodey Arrington and Mike Conaway, who serves as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Both represent West Texas cotton producing districts. They were also backed by Abbott and the state’s two Republican U.S. senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
Party skirmishing
The new letter from the Houston region’s House members noted that since Harvey hit in August, Congress has passed two smaller emergency aid bills totaling $50 billion, much of it to be shared with Florida, Puerto Rico and other regions hit with last year’s storms and wildfires.
The $81 billion bill pending before the Senate also would be spread among all of the states and territories needing disaster assistance, including California.
Texas officials, who have sought a greater share for the Gulf region, have estimated the damage from Harvey at upwards of $125 billion. Abbott travelled to Washington in October seeking a $61 billion down-payment for additional aid and infrastructure repairs from Harvey.
The Trump administration responded with a $44 billion proposal covering all of the major disaster areas. The House doubled that to $81 billion.
Cornyn has said that he is seeking to increase Texas’ share of the disaster spending, though it is unlikely that the overall size of the pending aid package will change.
At the same time, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has sought to add billions more for Puerto Rico, where many residents remain without electricity from Hurricane Maria.
That standoff, compounded by the shutdown showdown over immigration, prompted Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, to accuse Democrats of holding hurricane aid “hostage.” Senate Republican leaders, however, have not tried to force a vote on disaster aid to test whether Democrats would block it.
Delays hurt bottom line
Any changes in the Housepassed aid bill would send the measure back to the lower house for another vote, which would further extend the prolonged legislative process.
Further delays, the House members warned, could only make the recovery more expensive. “We cannot continue to wait to begin work on critical flood control projects that will protect no only the residents who live in the region, but the taxpayers who pay for costly disaster recovery that can be avoided in the future if we invest in needed infrastructure now,” they wrote.
Besides Olson, the letter was signed by Texas Republicans Pete Olson, Randy Weber, Brian Babin, Blake Farenthold, John Culberson, Michael McCaul, Ted Poe and Kevin Brady. It also was signed by Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee, Gene Green, Al Green, and Filemon Vela.