At Gov. Greg Abbott’s invitation, Mayor Sylvester Turner recently attended the governor’s bill signing ceremony for legislation related to disaster relief and preparedness. Please attribute the following statement to Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Mayor Turner greets Gov. Abbott this morning and thanks him for supporting disaster relief legislation
“Today is another important step in Houston’s long term recovery. Houston experienced one of the worst rain events in North American history. We knew if we were going to recover, we needed to have more resources, in this case the state’s Rainy Day Fund. I sincerely thank our local delegation, who from the beginning insisted on pushing for the Local Match.
“Senator Creighton was key to this effort and I thank him for Senate Bill 7. My team worked with Rep. Huberty, Murphy, and Walle to provide a key amendment that made this bill work better for everyone in the City of Houston.
“This is the first time the State of Texas has stepped up to provide the Local Match for federal disaster matching funds. Getting a $9 to $1 return on Public Assistance and $3 to $1 for Hazard Mitigation Grants is a very good return on investment for the state.
“For Houston, this means over $200 million in investment in our recovery programs, maximizing our federal draw down. Making sure that every community affected by Harvey takes advantage of the federal matching funds is good policy for the State of Texas, and I thank all members of the Legislature, the Lt. Governor, and the Governor for their support.”