govtech.com

Houston and Harris County each would receive more than $1 billion under Texas' first major Hurricane Harvey recovery spending plan, but relief remains far off for residents in need of housing help. The state intends to send roughly half of its initial $5 billion in Harvey aid to Houston and Harris County, according to the draft document released Tuesday. The rest would be spent on housing and infrastructure programs elsewhere in Texas. The announcement came as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said it would be sending another $5 billion to Texas to fund recovery and mitigation projects tied to Harvey and other recent flooding, bringing the state's funding total to roughly $10 billion. Mayor Sylvester Turner and county leaders lobbied aggressively to control how disaster relief money is spent in the region. Poised to win such authority, they now will have to develop their own plans for the money, a process that could take several months.