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Top Stories: U.S. House To Vote On More Disaster Aid

Gabriel Cristóver Pérez/KUT News
Staff and volunteers at the Hope Family Thrift Store in Austin sort through thousands of donated goods for Hurricane Harvey victims.

The top local stories this morning from KERA News:

The U.S. House today is expected to vote on an additional $36.5 billion for disaster recovery efforts across the country. Gov. Greg Abbott has criticized the proposal because it doesn't include nearly $19 billion in aid he and most of the state's congressional delegation wanted for Texas.

Republicans Jeb Hensarling of Dallas, Joe Barton of Ennis and Kevin Brady of The Woodlands did not sign the request letter for aid last week. They're concerned the money's not offset by spending cuts.

But Abbott told the Houston Chronicle his state's delegation needs to “get a stiff spine” and “fight for their fellow Texans.”

Earlier this week, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hagar estimated Harvey rebuilding efforts could affect the state's next two-year budget. The governor's also said if needed, Texas won't tap into its Rainy Day Fund until the next legislative session in 2019.

Other stories this morning:

  • The Dallas Cultural Affairs Commission today will consider recommendations from the Mayor's Task Force on Confederate Monuments.
  • Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Dallas Police are joining forces to battle an epidemic of the synthetic drug K-2.
  • The Big Screen talks short film with the curator of The Eyeslicer Road Show.

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM. 

Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.