Remember when Gov. Hickenlooper, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and former U.S. Sen. Mark Udall announced in a joint statement they had secured nearly $200 million from HUD to help communities after the 2013 flood?
We do too.
Which is why we were surprised to read in the Denver Post that only $1 million has been distributed to farmers.
At least $6 million was supposed to go to farmers, but the state’s Department of Local Affairs says their efforts have been hampered by federal red tape.
“We don’t just want a handout, but when this money was allocated to agricultural people, it should be used for that,” dairy farmer Deb Carpio told the Post.
When Bennet took credit for the funding in a March 2014 statement, he said it would help rebuild and “make Colorado more resilient the next time disaster strikes.”
It would be nice if we could actually get that money before the next disaster strikes.
That $6 million was only a small percentage of nearly $200 million that was supposed to go to Colorado. Which makes us wonder whether the rest of that funding ever made it here.