John Bogna
Texas Governor Greg Abbott reportedly criticized the White House’s most recent proposal for disaster relief funding, calling the $44 billion package “completely inadequate” on Friday.
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According to the Texas Tribune, that money would be split between hurricane relief efforts in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, and falls short of the $61 billion that Abbott requested originally just for aid in Texas.
Meeting with @VP Pence & @SecretaryPerry for #HurricaneHarvey & FEMA update. We’ll keep working to help Texas rebuild. #txlege #TexasStrong pic.twitter.com/cKzig5dU2g
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2017
The White House responded to Abbott’s criticism by calling on him to use state money to help with relief efforts. Abbott put further pressure on the President specifically at a press conference for a $5 billion housing grant.
“The president has told me privately what he’s said publicly, and that is that he wants to be the builder president,” Abbott said at the conference. “The president has said that he wants this to be the best recovery from a disaster ever.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded, “Up until this point, Texas has not put any state dollars into this process,” adding, “We feel strongly that they should step up and play a role and work with the federal government in this process. We did a thorough assessment and that was completed and [$44 billion] was the number that we put forward to Congress today.”
Abbott countered that Texas has already spent $1 billion toward rebuilding, and that 44 billion was aid money than the federal government put forward after Sandy.
Several other Republican lawmakers backed Abbott’s displeasure with the White House’s funding offer, including Sen. John Cornyn, Michael McCaul, Ted Poe and others.
“We stand together opposed to this level of funding and will continue to fight to help Texas rebuild,” a statement issued by them read.
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