House To Vote On Emergency Disaster Aid For Puerto Rico As Trump Adds Restrictions To Newly Released Funding
The push to allocate supplemental funds comes as the island reels from a series of catastrophic earthquakes this month while still recovering from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. The Trump administration announced earlier this week that it would release billions in aid that it held up since last year, but officials say Puerto Rico has to agree to increased oversight for the funds.
The New York Times:
House To Vote On Disaster Aid Package For Puerto Rico After Earthquakes
House lawmakers introduced an emergency aid package on Thursday to help Puerto Rico rebuild after earthquakes devastated the already storm-battered island, challenging President Trump, who has resisted further assistance for the commonwealth. The $3.35 billion package includes $100 million for education, $1.25 billion to rebuild roads and $2 billion in general disaster relief. Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader, said the House would take up the legislation after Martin Luther King’s Birthday on Monday. (Cochrane and Walker, 1/16)
Politico:
House To Pass $3.4B Disaster Aid Package For Puerto Rico
HUD has held up the funding for months, blowing past a September legal deadline while the agency pursued financial safeguards in light of political unrest on the island. Puerto Rico has received just $1.5 billion of the roughly $20 billion Congress appropriated last summer in disaster funds HUD is supposed to distribute to the territory. (Emma, 1/16)
The Washington Post:
Dangling Disaster Relief Funds, White House To Require Puerto Rico To Implement Reforms
The Trump administration plans to impose several new requirements on billions of dollars in aid for Puerto Rico, including a new restriction on the wages paid by the island’s government to contractors working on disaster relief, according to two officials with knowledge of the plan. The White House has for months worked to enact new restrictions on about $8 billion in disaster mitigation aid Congress approved for the island, which was hit this month with recurring earthquakes just two years after Hurricane Maria devastated much of the U.S. territory. (Hernandez and Stein, 1/15)
The New York Times:
Trump Attaches Severe Restrictions To Puerto Rico’s Long-Delayed Disaster Aid
Representative Nydia M. Velázquez, Democrat of New York and the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the House, called the move disdainful and contemptuous. “Why is Puerto Rico always subjected to different standards when it comes to this administration?” she demanded. (Fadulu and Walker, 1/15)
