Urging Congress to enact legislation directing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to rewrite the formula for the allocation of Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery funds to low- and moderate-income people.
The resolution emphasizes that, while HUD mandates a minimum of 70% of disaster recovery funds be aimed at benefiting low- to moderate-income individuals, the implementation of this requirement fails to adequately support all those in need across Texas. Specifically, it critiques a system that focuses primarily on areas with large concentrations of low-income individuals, thereby neglecting those in rural or less populated regions. If Congress acts upon this resolution, it may lead to a reshaping of disaster recovery funding that could improve the distribution of aid to more equitably support all affected communities in Texas.
HCR178 is a resolution urging Congress to enact legislation that would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to revise the formula used for allocating Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery funds. This is particularly aimed at addressing the needs of low- to moderate-income people who were affected by Hurricane Harvey, which caused extensive damage along the Texas coast in 2017. The resolution highlights the inadequacies of the current allocation formula that inadvertently excludes individuals in less-populated counties with lower-income families from receiving the necessary aid.
A notable point of contention surrounding HCR178 revolves around the challenges posed by the existing allocation criteria set by HUD, which city and county officials have criticized for being too restrictive. Critics argue that the focus on population density does not reflect the real needs of communities affected by disasters, particularly when considering economic diversity within counties. This resolution seeks to address these concerns, providing a unified voice from Texas legislators to advocate for a more inclusive approach in the allocation of disaster recovery funds, thereby catalyzing policy change at the federal level.