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WASHINGTON The Biden administration said it would release $1.3 billion in aid that Puerto Rico can use to protect against future climate disasters, and is starting to remove some restrictions put in place by the Trump administration on spending that was to help the island after Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Administration officials, describing the move as a first step toward addressing racial inequality through policies designed to address climate change, said they planned to ease the limits that the Trump administration placed on another $4.9 billion in aid on the morning of Jan. 20, a few hours before the former president left office.
Puerto Ricos reconstruction after Maria, which devastated the island more than three years ago, has been far slower than the recovery in other parts of the country, such as Texas and Florida, that were also struck by major disasters that year. That is partly because the Department of Housing and Urban Development had placed restrictions on Puerto Ricos aid funds that didnt apply to other recipients, according to current and former officials and policy experts.
That slow pace of disbursement has dampened Puerto Ricos recovery, said Rosanna Torres, Washington director for the Center for a New Economy, a Puerto Rican think tank.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/climate/puerto-rico-maria-federal-aid.html
sheshe2
(83,751 posts)Thank you Mr President.
dweller
(23,629 posts)A big fucking deal, right there ...
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