Lawmakers request disbursement of funds to rebuild electric grids in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

Led by Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL), 47 Members of Congress recently sent a letter to the Trump Administration requesting the disbursement of allocated funds to improve and rebuild the electric grids in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The letter notes that $2 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding was appropriated to increase the resilience of the electric grids in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and that the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (PL 115-123) was enacted into law on February 9, 2018. However, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has not published the Federal Register Notice to disburse the CDBG-DR funds.

“We urge the immediate publication of the Federal Register Notice detailing the administrative requirements for the disbursement of the $2 billion in CDBG-DR HUD funding,” the Members said in the letter. “We must strive to enable the prosperity of our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands by providing renewable, affordable, resilient, and reliable power.”

The Members sent the letter to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Acting Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Pete T. Gaynor and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney.