Gov. Greg Abbott is unhappy with the White House’s $44 billion additional hurricane relief package, saying that the request to congress is completely inadequate. But what are Abbott’s chances of securing the original $61 billion his office requested?
Abbott’s original $61 billion request for additional federal aid was to help the Texas coast rebuild following Hurricane Harvey, instead of the White House’s current $44 billion disaster aid package to be split between Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“The president has said he wants this to be the best recovery from a disaster ever. And when you compare what has been offered up to what was provided in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, you will see that this falls short,” said Abbott at a joint Harvey briefing in Austin.
The governor’s office says it will continue to work to secure the full $61 billion in federal aid, but Mark Jones with Rice University’s Baker Institute of Public Policy says there is a good chance that will not happen.
“The reality is the state isn't going to get all it wants,” Jones said. “There’s a finite amount of dollars in the treasury and unless we want to balloon the deficit even more or increases taxes there isn't going to be enough.”
Jones said most conservative Texans not living near Houston or the Gulf Coast would likely agree with the White House’s assessment.
Ryan Poppe can be reached at rpoppe@tpr.org or on Twitter @RyanPoppe1
