WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today participated in a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies subcommittee hearing to review the FY2021 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). During the hearing, Senator Capito raised the issues of flood mitigation, coronavirus coordination, and homelessness with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson.
To watch Senator Capito’s questions for Secretary Carson, click here.
HIGHLIGHTS:
ON FLOOD MITIGATION: “We were very pleased to receive $106 million to support our long-term flood recovery and mitigation efforts. And so we’re very appreciative of that. I was wondering if you could give me an update on how the state’s doing in terms of responsiveness to this and where you see those disaster relief dollars being best spent in our state?”
ON HOMELESSNESS: “The opioid epidemic flowing through our state unfortunately has a ripple effect of negative consequences across the family unit and family structure. We’ve got a lot of grandparents raising children… But I wanted to talk about homeless students. The West Virginia Department of Education reported that there are over 10,000 homeless students in the state –including children who are sleeping on someone else’s couch, living in a car or RV. How do you (HUD) work collaboratively with the states, the Department of Education, SAMHSA, and others to identify and provide support for these children who have fallen through the cracks and are living homelessly?”
ON CORONAVIRUS: “The coronavirus is obviously on all of our minds...I’m certain with the housing situations you have, I’m sure you have protocols set up for your housing authorities and others to be able to do best practices.”
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