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Despite Democratic lawmakers fleeing and holding up vital relief efforts, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s flood relief was faster than California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s response to the L.A. wildfires.
This weekend, Abbott helped to present more than 60 of the families most impacted by the catastrophic floods in the Texas Hill Country with $25,000 relief checks, which the governor called an initial “down payment” on the relief still incoming.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Abbott explained the funds were a result of Texas partnering with country music legend George Strait and other private groups to ensure that funds raised by the star went straight to those who suffered the worst damage.
Abbott said that both he and Strait agreed there is a “need for speed to help these people as quickly as possible.”
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“We’ve seen in other states when there’s been travesties that occurred there, like the fires in California, and so much money was raised and never has gotten to the people who needed it, we want to make sure that did not happen in the state of Texas,” Abbott explained.
“There has been an outpouring of support to Texas organizations to help the people of this state,” he added. “Now our job is to make sure it gets into the hands of the people who need it the most.”
This comes just over a month after much of central Texas suffered a devastating flood that killed over 100 and decimated homes and businesses.
In response to the suffering, Strait, a Texas native, held a concert on July 27 to raise funds for those most impacted. Just two weeks later, victims are already receiving relief checks from the concert.
Abbott said that Strait was insistent that “he was doing this for one reason, because he was sick and tired of the people who’ve been damaged and harmed the most by the storm are not getting the money they need.”
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“So, what we did we set up an operation to make sure we were able to identify who sustained the worst damage, then make sure that they would be on the receiving end of these checks,” he explained.
Strait’s concert closely resembles a similar star-studded benefit concert, titled “FireAid,” in California that raised more than $100 million for victims of the wildfires in Los Angeles.
FireAid billed itself as “a benefit concert for wildfire victims.” Aside from music by the likes of Lady Gaga, Jelly Roll, Katy Perry and Olivia Rodrigo, the five-hour show featured multiple stories from victims of the Altadena and Palisades fire who had lost their homes.
Fox News Digital reported in July that six months later, victims in the city’s most impacted neighborhoods still had not received any direct funds raised by the concert.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for FireAid told Fox News Digital that “to most effectively deliver aid to the community as quickly as possible, we partnered with vetted and trusted local nonprofits who had the capacity and infrastructure to directly reach the individuals in need.”
The spokesperson said “this assistance provided food security, housing, resources for schools and more directly to individuals in the affected communities.”
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They said that to date, FireAid has “distributed two rounds of funding totaling close to $75 million to organizations helping people on the ground and expect to distribute the remaining $25 million by the end of the year.”
“The funds address the urgent needs from individuals in our communities— from immediate financial assistance, to childcare, groceries, mental health and housing and rebuilding public spaces as well as fire prevention. The grants have been distributed to more than 160 frontline nonprofits, schools, and local organizations which were identified and selected by FireAid,” said the spokesperson.
Abbott claimed that several factors have made Texas’ response to the flooding disaster very different from California’s.
“It starts with generosity … but the second thing is we don’t let things slow us down. We are very empathetic with those who have lost their homes, who’ve had their lives turned upside down, who are trying to get back into their homes,” he said. “So, we were able to cut through all the red tape and make sure that the money got into the hands of those who needed it the most.”
He went on to say that “now we’re working with the local governments to make sure these people are going to be able to take these dollars, these resources, and actually begin that construction process to get their homes rebuilt.”
This comes despite the governor’s ongoing showdown with Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives, who fled the state and brought the legislature’s efforts to pass new flood relief measures to a grinding halt. The Democrats fled the state in protest of redistricting plans that would potentially give Republicans five additional seats in Congress.
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The governor and other state leaders, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Leader Dustin Burrows, both Republicans, have filed legal action to arrest the rogue lawmakers and have threatened to remove them from their offices. Thus far, however, the Democrats have been able to evade Texas authorities and hold up any progress by denying the state House the necessary quorum to pass legislation.
“We’re able to give that to the victims, even though we have Democrats who’ve fled the state and been dishonorable to our state,” said Abbott, adding, “One thing about Texans is we stand and fight if we have principles we want to fight on. And what these Democrats have done, they fled the state, and that’s very un-Texan on their part.”
He went on to say that “we’ll get the financial resources to those who need it, but also we’re working to provide greater assistance for them in the meantime.”
“That said, there are laws that need to be passed, such as creating early warning systems, such as making sure we change what the rules are in the flood zones, and things like that. That’s going to require these Democrats showing back up and casting a vote,” he explained.
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“Know that the gears of government to improve the response to this disaster are being slowed down and denied because Democrats are not showing up and doing their job,” he went on. “So, despite the fact that we have a bunch of cowardly Democrats who turned tail and ran out of state and right here to do their job, my main focus that I put my time and attention to is helping out the flood victims of this tragedy to make sure they’re getting the resources they need and so we can accelerate the rebuilding process to get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible.”
A spokesperson for Newsom’s office directed Fox News Digital to a press conference he held with several Texas Democrats, including state Rep. Ann Johnson, who claimed during the event that Democratic lawmakers “waited to address that issue” of flood relief for two weeks but that “they only put one bill up for us to debate in the House and it was redistricting.”
“We have an arrest warrant for us to go back to Texas for one bill only. They don’t want us to come back for flooding,” said Johnson.
She accused Republicans of “using those families as a distraction,” saying, “the governor can write a check right now to try to start the process and so its his decision what’s valuable to him.”
Johnson suggested that Democrats “will gladly show up” to address flooding, school testing, human trafficking or court infrastructure but not for the redistricting vote.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the Texas House Democratic Caucus for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Fox News Digital’s William La Jeunesse contributed to this report.
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