Sen. Durbin pushes back on proposed cuts to disaster recovery programs
Officials say the cuts would reduce employees at HUD's office of Community Planning and Development, which administers the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program, a crucial pot of funding that helps impacted communities with disaster recovery following extreme weather events including tornadoes and severe flooding. Under this program, Illinois is scheduled to receive more than $856.3 million for disaster recovery, which would likely be in jeopardy due to the cuts.
Officials with Sen. Durbin's office explain this disaster relief work includes rebuilding houses and small businesses, repairing roads and bridges, restoring water services and investing in workforce development for Illinoisans who've lost jobs.
Remembering the 1925 Tri-State Tornado
The lawmakers released the following statement:
'Communities across the country experienced significant natural disasters in 2023 and 2024… Alaska, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Illinois experienced severe storms. CDBG-DR provides states, cities, counties, and Tribes with funding to support recovery efforts in the wake of natural disasters. In December 2024, Congress appropriated $12 billion in emergency supplemental CDBG-DR funding. During your confirmation process, you made clear that, if confirmed, you would prioritize getting our constituents CDBG-DR funding as quickly as possible.'
'Specifically, you [Secretary Turner] stated that 'one of [your] top priorities' as HUD Secretary would 'be to ensure that the disaster recovery funding passed by Congress gets out to communities swiftly' and 'into the hands of Americans who have been impacted by recent disasters.' Your statements indicated a strong commitment to providing our disaster-impacted communities with the resources they need, but we are concerned that recent actions at the Department have not matched that verbal commitment. We urge you to immediately stop any additional cuts to the workforce and contracts involved in disaster recovery oversight, and reinstate any recently terminated probationary staff.'
Multiple senators
A copy of the letter can be seen below.
2025.03.17-Letter-to-Secretary-Turner-on-CDBG-DR-Workforce-and-Program-CutsDownload
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