Texas Seeks Rita-Linked CDBG Aid

Texas is seeking $2 billion in additional aid from the federal government, including $367 million in Community Development Block Grant funds to repair and rebuild housing damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Rita, despite opposition from the Bush administration.Texas Gov. Rick Perry told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the administration opposes his request for additional CDBG funds because most of the damage to housing in his state was caused by wind, not flooding. The Republican governor stressed that it doesn't matter to Texans which "force of nature" leveled their home or school. "All that matters is whether the government is going to supply the aid desperately needed to pick up the pieces of their scattered lives," he said. The Bush administration has requested an additional $4.2 billion in additional CDBG funds for Louisiana as part of a supplemental appropriations bill, but the request does not include additional CDBG funds for Texas. Last December, Congress approved $11.5 billion CDBG funds for the Gulf Coast states that allotted $6.2 billion for Louisiana and $5.1 billion for Mississippi, but only $74.5 million for Texas.