How Much Money Did The Us Govt Give To Puerto Rico?
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Newly obtained documents reveal that in the year and a half following Hurricane Maria, which acquired an estimated $90 billion of damage in Puerto Rico, the Federal Emergency Direction Bureau merely sent $3.3 billion in federal disaster aid to local authorities in the U.S. territory. Non just exercise these records undercut Trump's claim at the time that Puerto Rico had received $91 billion in federal aid, only they make Trump's new $thirteen billion FEMA aid package for Puerto Rico look fifty-fifty more politically motivated.
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, killing around three,000 people and destroying the islands' electrical system. A year and a half subsequently, in April 2019, Trump tweeted that "Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more coin than has ever been gotten for a hurricane earlier & all their local politicians practice is complain & inquire for more coin." Information technology was clear at the time that Trump's number was incorrect , then CREW requested records from FEMA to see how much money had really been allocated and granted to local authorities by the agency for disaster relief in Puerto Rico.
While these records are not a full accounting of the entire federal government'south disaster help to the territory, they show that much of the $xv billion obligated by FEMA had not actually been spent.
What we do know is that by April ten, 2019, when Coiffure sent the request, FEMA had granted only $3.3 billion in disaster relief to the regime of Puerto Rico, or just over 59% of obligated public assist funds, the FEMA documents reveal . The bureau had also delivered none of the $16 million obligated toward gamble mitigation.
The relatively small corporeality given to Puerto Rico'due south government past FEMA in the aftermath of the hurricane calls into question the timing of last week's White House announcement of a new $thirteen billion relief package for the territory. Trump's announcement of $xiii billion in assist just 46 days before the ballot, granted through FEMA and largely directed toward the government-owned Puerto Rico Electric Ability Authority, is roughly four times the amount of money given to local regime by the agency in the 18 months immediately following the disaster. At the time, Trump railed on Puerto Rico's politicians for asking for relief, just now with the election approaching, his approach has inverse dramatically.
The Puerto Rican population in Florida may well play a critical function in Trump's performance in the state, ane commentator pointed out. A big proportion of those who left the island following the hurricane settled in Florida.
If Trump is using federal disaster assistance to boost support in a critical swing country but weeks before the ballot, it would exist incredibly troubling, merely inappreciably surprising. This would not be the kickoff fourth dimension he has used taxpayer dollars to advance his own political interests. In fact, withholding federal assistance for political reasons is precisely what he was impeached for before this yr.
Source: https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/records-reveal-1-5-years-after-hurricane-maria-fema-had-sent-only-3-3-billion-to-puerto-rican-govt/
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