Rep.Diaz-Balart Secures Hurricane Recovery Funding

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (FL- 25), Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee has been a strong advocate for disaster relief funding in response to the 2017 Hurricane Season and the California wildfires. He hosted several roundtables and briefings on disaster relief programs in the Departments of THUD, including the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.

Diaz-Balart was able to secure the following supplemental funding:

Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA): Provides a total of $114.6

million for facilities damaged by

hurricanes in 2017, and operational

expenses.

Federal Highway Administration-

Emergency Relief Program: $1.37

billion to address infrastructure

damage from 2017 hurricane season.

Federal Transit Administration-

Public Transportation Emergency

Relief Program:

Provides $269 million for transit

systems affected by Hurricanes

Harvey, Irma, and Maria, to restore

buses and shelters, ferry terminals,

and rail systems stations.

Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery (CDBGDR): Provides $26.1 billion to address unmet housing, business and infrastructure needs for communities devastated by disasters in 2017.

Also included in the legislation are the following that will benefit those recovering from the 2017 Hurricane Season and recent California wildfires:

$2.6 billion for assistance to support

Florida’s agriculture industry,

including the citrus industry (an

estimated $760 million in damages).

$2.9 billion to assist schools that

accepted students from Puerto Rico

after Hurricane Maria.

$12.1 billion for repairs to existing

Army Corps of Engineers projects

damaged during the storm, including

projects in Everglades National Park.

1.66 billion to support the Small

Business Administration’s disaster

loan program, allowing the agency to

provide up to $12.2 billion in disaster

loans.

$616.4 million for repairs, clean-up,

and recovery at national parks such

as Everglades and Dry Tortugas

National Parks.

Thank you to Rep. Diaz-Balart for fighting for the citizens affected by Hurricane Irma!