WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:01.266 --> 00:00:04.116 David Wheaton: I am David Wheaton advocacy, director of Texas Housers. 00:00:04.746 --> 00:00:08.405 We are Texas nonprofit organization that supports low income Texans 00:00:08.436 --> 00:00:11.785 efforts to have a decent, affordable home in a quality neighborhood. 00:00:12.655 --> 00:00:18.026 On June 8th, 2021, Texas Housers and the Houston base Northeast Action Collective 00:00:18.355 --> 00:00:21.386 filed a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Housing and Urban 00:00:21.386 --> 00:00:25.796 Development alleging the Texas General Land Office unlawfully discriminated 00:00:26.036 --> 00:00:30.326 against Texans based on their race and national origin in awarding funds 00:00:30.385 --> 00:00:32.215 under a $4 billion federal grant. 00:00:33.315 --> 00:00:36.356 The Community Development Block Grant, Hurricane Harvey Mitigation 00:00:36.356 --> 00:00:41.486 Funds, also known as CDBG MIT, were established by Congress to provide 00:00:41.486 --> 00:00:45.626 funds to mitigate the impact of future natural disasters in Texas. 00:00:46.676 --> 00:00:51.875 On June 25th, 2021, HUD initiated an investigation into our complaint. 00:00:52.445 --> 00:00:57.275 Last Friday, March 4th, after an eight month investigation, HUD issued a ruling 00:00:57.365 --> 00:01:01.445 sustaining our allegations of racial discrimination by the State of Texas 00:01:01.445 --> 00:01:06.515 General Land Office and directing the GLO to remedy its unlawful actions. 00:01:07.175 --> 00:01:11.915 Copies of our original complaint and HUD's ruling can be found on the Texas 00:01:11.915 --> 00:01:16.336 Housers' website at www.texashousers.org 00:01:17.196 --> 00:01:18.116 HUD concluded. 00:01:18.356 --> 00:01:22.166 and I quote, "The Department finds that the design and operation of 00:01:22.166 --> 00:01:25.436 the Competition discriminated on the basis of race and national origin. 00:01:26.461 --> 00:01:30.901 GLO utilized two scoring criteria that substantially and predictably 00:01:30.931 --> 00:01:35.151 disadvantaged, minority residents, with particular disparate 00:01:35.281 --> 00:01:37.111 impact for Black residents." 00:01:37.511 --> 00:01:38.031 End quote. 00:01:39.281 --> 00:01:44.011 HUD, found that the criteria the GLO used to award funds, and once again, I 00:01:44.011 --> 00:01:47.731 quote, "...caused applicants that would disproportionately benefit minority 00:01:47.731 --> 00:01:51.781 residents to receive fewer points than other applicants for projects that would 00:01:51.781 --> 00:01:53.941 benefit an equivalent number of residents. 00:01:54.916 --> 00:01:57.766 This caused funding to be awarded in a manner that disproportionately 00:01:57.766 --> 00:01:59.236 benefited white residents." 00:01:59.956 --> 00:02:00.576 End quote. 00:02:01.306 --> 00:02:06.226 The State's policies used to award funds, quoting HUD, "...had an 00:02:06.226 --> 00:02:11.266 unjustifiably discriminatory effect and GLO failed to comply with 00:02:11.266 --> 00:02:15.316 HUD's regulation that prohibits a recipient from utiliz[ing] criteria... 00:02:15.496 --> 00:02:18.456 which ha[d] the effect of subjecting persons to discrimination." 00:02:18.456 --> 00:02:18.986 End quote. 00:02:20.176 --> 00:02:25.486 In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, CDBG MIT funds 00:02:25.816 --> 00:02:28.756 were appropriated by Congress and made available to the governor of 00:02:28.756 --> 00:02:33.046 Texas to fund projects to mitigate the harm that could be caused by future 00:02:33.046 --> 00:02:35.116 natural disasters, such as hurricanes. 00:02:35.596 --> 00:02:38.956 The Texas governor designated the State of Texas General Land 00:02:38.956 --> 00:02:40.376 Office to administer the program. 00:02:41.686 --> 00:02:46.486 In 2020, Texas Housers publicly raised objections to aspects 00:02:46.726 --> 00:02:50.416 of GLO's initial proposed plan for administering the program. 00:02:51.226 --> 00:02:56.116 After GLO announced the allocation plan in 2021, we objected again, 00:02:56.626 --> 00:03:00.376 pointing to clear discriminatory criteria in the scoring process. 00:03:01.516 --> 00:03:06.286 When the GLO disclosed his final funding awards, we formally and in writing 00:03:06.286 --> 00:03:08.626 objected to GLO's plan a third time. 00:03:09.376 --> 00:03:11.746 All of our pleas fell on deaf ears however. 00:03:12.736 --> 00:03:17.176 The GLO never acted on our repeated written complaints nor made any 00:03:17.176 --> 00:03:20.776 effort to discuss with us the serious civil rights issues we raised. 00:03:22.201 --> 00:03:27.151 In 2021, it became widely apparent to Texans that something was seriously 00:03:27.151 --> 00:03:30.871 wrong with the GLO's administration of Hurricane Harvey mitigation 00:03:30.871 --> 00:03:36.451 funds when the GLO disclosed that Houston, Port Arthur, Beaumont and 00:03:36.451 --> 00:03:39.601 Corpus Christi were being denied any funding for disaster mitigation. 00:03:39.601 --> 00:03:46.631 HUD observed and I quote, "The results of the competition announced in May, 2021 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:48.910 were shocking to many community members. 00:03:49.511 --> 00:03:53.381 Local leaders described the competition, design and outcomes 00:03:53.410 --> 00:03:58.160 as unfathomable, outrageous, bewildering, problematic and flawed. 00:03:58.751 --> 00:04:01.840 Local leaders noted that the competition design was particularly 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:06.311 unfair and contrary to the intended focus on disaster risk and low- 00:04:06.311 --> 00:04:08.021 and moderate- income residents." 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:11.780 When HUD launched his investigation and asked for records, the GLO 00:04:11.830 --> 00:04:15.050 sought to divert attention by falsely ascribing political 00:04:15.050 --> 00:04:17.630 motivations to the HUD investigation. 00:04:18.530 --> 00:04:22.670 This illustrates the contempt that the General Land Office has shown towards 00:04:22.670 --> 00:04:24.980 complying with bedrock civil rights law. 00:04:26.210 --> 00:04:30.980 In order to prevent the loss of federal funds, the GLO must now adopt a program 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:33.320 to cure this racial discrimination. 00:04:34.115 --> 00:04:37.876 The GLO may enter into a voluntary compliance agreement to remedy 00:04:37.925 --> 00:04:41.785 the discrimination, quoting HUD, "... with a clear timetable 00:04:41.815 --> 00:04:43.855 for implementation" end quote. 00:04:45.265 --> 00:04:50.095 Tragically, yet predictably the GLO's decision that violated civil 00:04:50.095 --> 00:04:54.625 rights laws delayed the award of badly needed funds to areas of our 00:04:54.625 --> 00:04:56.575 state at risk of future disaster. 00:04:57.385 --> 00:04:59.835 This delay is the sole fault of the GLO. 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:05.280 Texas Housers and the Northeast Action Collective have already provided HUD, 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:10.960 at that agency's request, a list of actions the GLO should take to remedy 00:05:10.960 --> 00:05:17.290 the discrimination, HUD notes, and I quote, "a VCA resolving this matter 00:05:17.320 --> 00:05:21.700 would require the GLO to address the discriminatory outcomes of the competition 00:05:21.760 --> 00:05:25.900 as well as adopt enhanced fair housing planning and monitoring metrics." 00:05:27.420 --> 00:05:32.245 HUD's March 4th ruling informed the GLO that a failure to enter into a VCA 00:05:32.455 --> 00:05:35.995 may result in federal administrative actions, such as loss of the federal 00:05:35.995 --> 00:05:39.655 funds and legal enforcement action by the Department of Justice. 00:05:40.285 --> 00:05:45.085 The GLO's discriminatory acts against Texans of color are part of an ongoing 00:05:45.085 --> 00:05:48.895 pattern by the government of the State of Texas in the administration 00:05:48.895 --> 00:05:52.475 of federal disaster relief funds stretching back all the way to 2010. 00:05:53.185 --> 00:05:57.335 In May, 2010, following a federal investigation of an earlier complaint 00:05:57.355 --> 00:06:01.375 made by Texas' Housers and Texas Appleseed of racial discrimination in 00:06:01.375 --> 00:06:05.845 the State of Texas' administration of federal funds for disaster rebuilding, 00:06:05.845 --> 00:06:10.285 following hurricanes Ike and Dolly, HUD withheld funding, and the State 00:06:10.285 --> 00:06:14.055 entered into a voluntary conciliation to end those discriminatory practices. 00:06:14.565 --> 00:06:17.980 Today, once again, an investigation by the federal government has 00:06:17.980 --> 00:06:20.860 found ongoing racial discrimination in the State's administration 00:06:20.860 --> 00:06:22.450 of federal disaster assistance. 00:06:23.410 --> 00:06:27.490 Let's be clear, what the federal government found is that the practices 00:06:27.490 --> 00:06:31.150 of the General Land Office unlawfully excluded vast numbers of Texans of 00:06:31.150 --> 00:06:35.890 color on the basis of their race from the benefit of federal funds the State 00:06:35.890 --> 00:06:37.730 administers for disaster assistance. 00:06:38.410 --> 00:06:41.800 Texas Housers and the Northeast Action Collective of Houston believe 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.460 that for our state government to repeatedly discriminate against its 00:06:45.460 --> 00:06:49.640 citizens on the basis of their race is not only unlawful and morally 00:06:49.640 --> 00:06:52.070 reprehensible, but it is un-Texan. 00:06:52.550 --> 00:06:55.850 My colleague, Julio Orduña will conclude our statement.