Texas Approves $12 Million For Urgent Disaster Recovery Projects
The funding represents a last chance for cities still rebuilding from the 2015 floods. Federal deadlines loom for spending these disaster recovery dollars, creating urgency for communities with unfinished projects.
'Texans impacted by disasters deserve real solutions,' said Commissioner Buckingham. 'The GLO is making sure every dollar is put to work for the people who need it most.'
Harris County will receive the largest share, with a $7.35 million split between Jacinto City and Tomball. Newton County secured $3.95 million for street and sewer improvements, while Brazoria was awarded $700,000 for sewer line replacement.
The money comes through the Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program, which repurposes unused federal disaster funds. The Texas General Land Office received $1.4 billion in project requests but had only $140 million available across six disaster programs.
Jacinto City's $6 million allocation addresses critical infrastructure needs from the 2015 flooding. The city will upgrade sewer lines, improve emergency communications systems, and enhance its wastewater treatment plant.
Newton's projects focus on street repairs and sewer improvements in flood-damaged areas. Tomball will use its $1.35 million for channel improvements to reduce future flood risks.
Federal regulations impose strict completion deadlines on these projects. Communities that fail to finish work on time must repay the funds to Washington.
Still, the program offers vital support for Texas cities struggling with disaster recovery costs. The selected projects underwent rigorous eligibility reviews based on federal grant requirements and completion feasibility.
That said, the funding falls far short of the requested needs. The $1.4 billion in submissions highlights the extensive damage Texas communities still face from multiple disasters spanning more than a decade.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott orders arrest of Democratic lawmakers who fled over redistricting
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott ordered the arrest of dozens of state Democratic lawmakers who fled to block a Republican redistricting plan to flip Democratic seats in the U.S. House. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has ordered Texas law enforcement to arrest Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block a vote on redistricting that could give Republicans several more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. 'Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans,' Abbott said in a press release announcing the move. 'By fleeing the state, Texas House Democrats are holding hostage critical legislation to aid flood victims and advance property tax relief. There are consequences for dereliction of duty." It's unclear whether and how Texas law enforcement will be able to work with out-of-state law enforcement to execute the arrest order, which Abbott said is designed to ensure the missing Democrats comply with civil arrest warrants issued by state Republicans earlier in the day. Those warrants only apply within state lines. More than 50 state Democratic lawmakers fled Aug. 3 in the political power struggle. Many went to the Chicago area in Illinois, where Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker greeted them. Others went to Boston, Massachusetts and Albany, New York. At the urging of President Donald Trump, Texas Republicans have proposed changing congressional districts to give their party an assist in next year's midterm elections. The revamped map could allow Republicans to flip as many as five Democratic congressional seats. The Democrats are already facing a $500 fine for each day they are out of the state. The penalty was created after state Democrats in 2021 made a similar move to protest new voting restrictions. However, supporters such as Pritzker, a billionaire, and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a star Democratic fundraiser from Texas, have offered to help the fleeing Democrats. Abbott said that his arrest order, which called on the Texas Department Of Public Safety to take action, will remain in place until every missing Democratic member has been brought to the Texas Capitol. Contributing: Savannah Kuchar – USA TODAY
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Texas redistricting war escalates across the country
The decision by Texas Democrats to flee the state has ratcheted up tensions and started a new phase in the redistricting war around the country. Democrats from the Lone Star State's legislature fled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts starting Sunday to avoid giving Republicans the quorum needed to pass a highly unusual effort for partisan, mid-decade redistricting that could benefit them in next year's midterms. In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered the arrest of the 'delinquent' Democrats, not long after Republicans in the state House passed a motion directing officials to bring them back to the state under warrant. 'Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans,' Abbott said in a statement Monday afternoon. 'By fleeing the state, Texas House Democrats are holding hostage critical legislation to aid flood victims and advance property tax relief. There are consequences for dereliction of duty.' The rapidly escalating tit-for-tat underscores how the redistricting battle has turned into an all-out national brawl ahead of what both parties expect to be a fiercely fought midterm election. 'Let's be clear, this is not just rigging the system in Texas,' Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) told reporters on Sunday, flanked by Texas Democrats. 'It's about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come.' The Texas Democrats' decision to break quorum — or the minimum number of lawmakers needed in order to conduct business in the legislature — came as Republicans look to advance an even friendly GOP congressional map that could net them five additional seats ahead of next year. The redistricting move was encouraged by President Trump as Republicans brace for an unfavorable political environment next year — and the possibility of Democratic investigations into his administration if the party loses the House. Democrats have portrayed the redistricting effort as a naked power grab by Republicans. The current map, authored by a Republican-dominated statehouse in 2021, gives Republicans 65 percent of the state congressional seats — a sizable advantage over the 55 percent of the state electorate who votes for the party. But if Trump gets the five additional seats he wants, that advantage would expand to 80 percent of the state's congressional House caucus — a 25-percent advantage secured with no additional need for persuasion. A Texas House panel advanced the House map last week, teeing it up for a floor vote. With Democrats out of the state, however, the efforts to pass the new map are temporarily stalled. In addition to the threats of arrest, Abbott also said he would strip lawmakers who failed to return to the state Capitol of their seats. Texas lawmakers already incur a daily $500 fine and threat of arrest for breaking quorum, and Abbott previously threatened them with bribery charges if national Democrats pick up the tab. 'Texans don't run from a fight — they face it head on,' Abbott wrote on X. 'These Texas Democrats that fled the state are not serving Texans. They are serving themselves. They forfeited their seats and are facing potential felony charges.' Speaking to reporters in Illinois on Sunday, Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said they didn't make the decision lightly to leave the state, but added that this was 'absolutely the right thing to do to protect the people of the state of Texas.' Democratic leaders from across the country were quick to join in the fight. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has said he's weighing several options, including through a ballot measure or through the state legislature, over how to proceed as the Golden State eyes redrawing its own maps in response to Texas. Pritzker has vowed to protect lawmakers who traveled to his state from the threat of arrest from top Texas leaders. And while hosting several Texas Democrats in her state on Monday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she will explore different options available to redraw her state's maps. 'We're sick and tired of being pushed around when other states don't have the same aspirations that we always have had, and I hold those dear, but I cannot ignore that the playing field has changed dramatically,' Hochul said. 'And shame on us if we ignore that fact and cling tight to the vestiges of the past. That era is over.' The support from national Democrats, and the threats of arrest, mark a sea change from when Texas Democrats last left the state when Republicans engaged in mid-cycle redistricting in 2003. The decision then also occurred in response to a then-unprecedented mid-decade redistricting push by Republicans, which eventually transformed the state's congressional delegation from a comfortably Democratic majority to two-to-one Republican dominance — and locked in the GOP's generational control over the state legislature. The latest Texas battle comes as redistricting has become increasingly normalized by both sides. When Republicans took the state House for the first time in 2002, they took power despite generations of redistricting by the state's long-dominant Democratic majority — giving weight to arguments that they deserved their own stab at drawing new lines, Southern Methodist University historian Cal Jillson said. While Democrats have rebuked Texas GOP leaders for gerrymandering an already Republican-favored House map, the party has also been criticized for doing the same in states like New York and Illinois, both of which have hosted Texas lawmakers. In fact, a court struck down a map passed by New York Democrats in 2022 over partisan gerrymandering, mandating a court-appointed special master to draw the House lines instead. The broader redistricting tit-for-tat has also prompted a reversal among some Democrats around redistricting commissions, which were created with the intent to distance lawmakers from the process of drawing maps. At the same time, the redistricting battle has also created fissures within the GOP, some of whom are against mid-cycle redistricting. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) is introducing legislation that would block new House maps from being implemented ahead of the next U.S. Census in 2030, though notably a statement from the California Republican only invoked Newsom. But the Republican argument that Texas redistricting is their means of addressing what they call an unfair national map marks how much things have changed. Unlike in 2003, 'you can't make the argument' that Republican redistricting is redressing an unfair map in Texas, Jillson said, because the gerrymandered maps the state GOP is now trying to redraw are ones that state Republicans drew just four years ago. Abbott and the majority of state congressional Republicans opposed redistricting, which they worried would threaten their seats — until Trump applied pressure, The Texas Tribune reported. 2024 Election Coverage Republicans also say there are risks involved, too, if Abbott tries to oust Democrats from their offices. 'So you take 'em out of office and you have elections, then you still don't have a quorum. Then you kind of basically shot yourself in the foot,' explained lobbyist and political consultant Bill Miller, who served on state Rep. Tom Craddick's (R) transition team in 2003 when Craddick was Texas House Speaker — and the architect of that year's bitter redistricting fight. 'The only thing that I would say from my experience is these wounds that are created by these fights don't heal easily, and they're remembered,' he said. 'A long time in ways that people forget.'
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Texas Democrats face $500 daily fines: What to know
Texas Democrats who fled their state on Sunday face $500 daily fines as they try to stall GOP efforts to redraw the Lone Star State's congressional maps, along with Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) call for their arrest. Democrats are denying the Republican-led state House of the numbers it needs to function and pausing progress on the redistricting proposal — but the move comes with big risks for the participating lawmakers. The threats ratcheted up Monday afternoon when Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety, after the state House issued warrants, to return to 'locate, arrest and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans … until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol.' At the same time, each quorum-breaking Democrat faces a daily fine of $500 while they're holding up the state legislature, on top of the costs of living away from their homes in the Lone Star State. Now that more than 50 lawmakers have fled the state, the risky standoff could become increasingly expensive. Here's what to know: Fines came after last quorum break This isn't the first time Democrats have broken quorum to stall legislative business, a strategic move for the minority party in the state House. They walked out over a separate redistricting battle back in 2003, then again in 2021 as Republicans tried to pass new voting restrictions. Both times, Democrats were successful in slowing things down, though the bills ultimately passed. Less than two years after Democrats' 2021 quorum break stalled things for more than five weeks, the Texas House approved new punishments for lawmakers who break quorum. Members absent from sessions of the House without leave 'for the purpose of impeding the action of the house,' according to the rules passed in 2023, face fines, reprimand, censure and potential expulsion, and are also obliged to pay their share if a sergeant-at-arms has to be dispatched to bring back lawmakers. Donors could help offset costs Democrats have shared few specific details about how they'll offset the costs incurred through their protest. The Texas Tribune reported last week that some donors appeared prepared to help out if a walkout occurred, as some in the party considered how to work around rules that prevent lawmakers from using their campaign funds to pay the fines. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), speaking to reporters alongside some of the Texas Democrats who fled to his state, stressed on Sunday that the state lawmakers 'have the right to raise money' but deferred on whether he would personally support them financially. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), at a similar presser in Albany, said she expected there will be 'exorbitant legal expenses' for the lawmakers and encouraged others 'to step up and invest in these brave soldiers for our democracy.' Separately from the fines, the costs of spending time out of state will also rack up. In 2021, before the rule change to add fines, a group aligned with former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) reportedly gave $600,000 to help fund lodging, meals and transportation during Texas Democrats' stay in Washington, D.C. for the last quorum break. Costs could vary depending on timeline State legislators in Texas make just $600 per month as their base salary, plus a per diem for each day the state legislature is in session, set at $221 per day as of 2023. With fines of $500 per day, just a couple weeks of a quorum break could quickly exceed the lawmakers' base salaries. Quorum was broken for four days in 2003, and nearly six weeks in 2021. The state lawmakers who have fled are likely trying to run out the clock on the ongoing 30-day special session, which kicked off July 21. But Abbott has the authority to call an unlimited number of additional special sessions, including back-to-back blocks. Democrats could theoretically try to stay out of the state until November, when the filing period for 2026 primary candidates opens in Texas, to stall the maps from taking effect before the midterms. But staying away from their offices also puts a pause on other business, keeping the chambers from passing legislation on other issues. It's unclear how long Democrats may be willing to stay away, whether or not they can afford to financially. 'We're here. We're committed to this. We're all away from our families … This is not a decision that we take lightly,' Texas state Rep. Gene Wu (D) said on Monday, when asked about how long he could see the effort going. Abbott threatens bribery charges over fines, orders arrests to compel return The state Democrats taking part in the quorum break risk losing their seats in the House, as Abbott has threatened to remove missing lawmakers from membership who were not in attendance when the state House reconvened on Monday afternoon. Abbott also argued that any state lawmaker who accepts support to cover the fines may have violated state bribery law. He said the same could be true of someone who 'offers, confers or agrees to confer' such funds to the fleeing members. 'In addition to abandoning their offices, these legislators may also have committed felonies. Many absentee Democrats are soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules,' Abbott said in a statement. Bribery charges could come with additional fines. And on Monday afternoon, Abbott ordered the arrest of what his office called 'delinquent' Texas House Democrats to ensure compliance with state House Speaker Dustin Burrows' warrants for members to return to the chamber. The governor said on X that there's 'more coming later today and tomorrow.' Abbott's move came shortly after the Texas House Democratic Caucus responded to the governor's threats with the message 'come and take it.'
