House Financial Services Subcommittee Issues Testimony From Texas General Land Office
"Good morning Chairman Wagner, Vice-Chairman Green, distinguished Representatives and guests. Thank you for inviting me here today. For the record, my name is
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"To further illustrate the scope of this disaster, the
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"According to HUD regulations:
* 80% of funds must be spent in the most impacted areas defined by HUD;
* At least 70% of the CDBG-DR program funds must be used to support activities benefitting low to moderate income persons;
* This allocation must primarily address unmet housing need. Before infrastructure and economic revitalization activities may be funded the State must identify how any remaining unmet housing needs will be addressed or how the selected activities contribute to long-term recovery of housing;
* CDBG-DR funds may be used as the match for any other federal program;
* Any project constructed or substantially improved must be elevated to 2 feet over base flood elevation;
* Affordable rental units must maintain a 51% LMI tenant occupancy for at least 20 years;
* Homeowners making over 120% of the area median income with homes in floodplains that did not have flood insurance will not be eligible.
"The GLO has completed the Action Plan defining the uses of just over
"First, we would like to thank the
* States need to be allowed the maximum level of flexibility possible for disaster recovery efforts. Hurricane Harvey impacted 49 counties or an area larger than the state of
* Requiring HUD to allocate some portion of any appropriation within 60 days as was done on the more recent allocation of recovery funds would be encouraged to conitinue. This would allow States in need of funds to at least begin their recovery efforts while data commonly used by HUD to allocate funds can be finalized.
* Disasters do not discriminate, and HUD defined, higher income but still working-class families are often equally impacted. HUD's recent shift away from waiving the LMI aggregate from 70% to 50% for disaster events will prevent communities from being able to recover in a holistic way. It has also made large scale infrastructure projects that could mitigate large areas for future events very difficult.
* As in every event access to data is always an issue. Any support that can be provided toward data sharing would be welcome. With every administration in each federal agency access to data is handled differently from event to event and takes negotiation of data sharing agreements each time by every grantee separately. As the last federal program funds to be made available, CDBG-DR is often the program that must enforce Duplication of Benefit requirements and access to this data is necessary for that role.
* Historically CDBG-DR funds have provided grantees with 5% in administrative costs. This value is generally adequate however, HUD has continued to increase the level of oversight, reporting, and IT requirements for these awards. This is especially evident in allocations resulting from smaller localized events.
* Relief from environmental compliance where the same use is being reconstructed in place would cut down on program cost, red tape, save time, and just makes common sense.
* In this recent allocation, HUD limited support for families who reside in a flood plain who made 120% of the area median income if they did not maintain flood insurance. The State has concerns this could progress beyond just families located in a flood plain. Disaster events do not discriminate nor do they consider income. In
* Lastly disaster recovery could be greatly expedited if HUD had written regulations that governed supplemental CDBG-DR allocations. States would not have to guess at what regulations would be applicable from event to event nor would they have to wait for the
"I have been involved in disaster recovery for the
"that making these adjustments to the program could expedite recovery efforts and utilize limited funding more efficiently.
"At this time, I am happy to answer any questions the committee may have."
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