Houston Chronicle by Zach Despart and Jasper Scherer 5/21/2021
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Bush blames Houston, Harris County for failure to win flood aid. Turner, Hidalgo blame GLO criteria.
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush blamed local leaders Friday for Houston and Harris County’s failure to secure a single penny of roughly $1 billion in federal flood mitigation funds tied to Hurricane Harvey, though a county commissioner said Bush privately pledged his support for giving Harris County future aid directly rather than forcing it to compete for the money.
The Texas General Land Office, which is responsible for allocating U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development flood mitigation dollars, told city and county officials Thursday they would receive nothing of the more than $1.3 billion they had sought for 14 mitigation projects.
Mayor Sylvester Turner and County Judge Lina Hidalgo blamed the result on certain project scoring criteria that disadvantaged urban areas.
A General Land Office spokeswoman said the agency was required to use the criteria developed by federal officials at the Housing and Urban Development Department.
HUD disputed that Friday evening, laying the blame squarely on Bush’s team.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Bush-blames-Houston-Harris-County-for-failure-to-16195442.php
