The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) held a hearing, “Stakeholder Perspectives: Building Resilient Communities,” on March 13. Members of the subcommittee and witnesses discussed strategies for better incorporating resiliency and mitigation strategies into existing housing and transportation programs.
The THUD subcommittee made a substantial investment in mitigation last year with a mitigation-specific appropriation of Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for areas impacted by disasters in 2017. HUD has not yet released guidelines for the program, however. Houston Public Works Director Carol Haddock noted that, while she hopes HUD is being “thoughtful and diligent” about the mitigation guidelines, funding needs to get out quickly. She stated that many people in Houston are still not back in their homes and numerous multi-family apartment buildings have not been repaired.
During her opening testimony, Jennifer Raitt, the director of planning and community development for the Town of Arlington, MA, encouraged appropriators to better promote mitigation and resiliency planning in competitive grant programs. She also suggested HUD and FEMA work more closely with local communities to align resiliency requirements and stressed that funding should focus on vulnerable populations. Other witnesses also pushed for better planning that would more efficiently utilize federal funds and keep housing more resilient to all types of disasters.
Representative Katherine Clark (D-MA) raised the issue of inequity in disaster recovery, noting that disaster aid often benefits wealthier households and increases existing economic and racial disparities. Ms. Raitt proposed increased investments in affordable housing and other support systems as options for addressing these inequities. Other witnesses discussed the need to plan for housing development in conjunction with infrastructure investments to help protect vulnerable populations from repetitive damage.
Learn more about the hearing and watch archived footage at: https://bit.ly/2F9fbmf