FL Dems say the state and the feds have let down Puerto Ricans who moved to the state after Hurricane Maria

As Gov. Rick Scott traveled to Puerto Rico Thursday on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a group of Puerto Rican-based Democratic legislators denounced state and federal officials for not doing enough to help tens of thousands of displaced Puerto Ricans who have migrated to Florida after the wrath of the storm.

Of chief concern is housing for those who fled from the island to come to Florida.

A federal judge ruled late last month that hundreds of Puerto Ricans who have been living in hotels and motels for free — part of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) temporary housing — had to check out September 14. That includes more than 300 in Florida.

Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson — Scott’s opponent in November — had sponsored a bill earlier this year that would require FEMA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to extend temporary housing aid through February of 2019. That legislation has not been approved.

In a conference call Thursday with three state lawmakers, Central Florida state Senator Victor Torres said he was concerned that his request to FEMA — to provide housing relief programs in Florida for Puerto Rican families – was rejected last year.

Torres also said he testified before the state Senate Appropriations Committee last October, requesting funds for education, housing and health care for Puerto Rican families who migrated to Florida following Hurricane Maria.

“I asked for this, and what did I get? The door slammed in my face, and on my families from Puerto Rico,” Torres said on the conference call.

Orlando state Rep. Amy Mercado compared the federal government’s response to the people of Puerto Rico to the devastation in the Carolinas from Hurricane Florence, noting that the Carolinas got essential services in place there within 72 hours.

“We didn’t get that in Puerto Rico. It took weeks before we got folks out there as a response,” Mercado said.

Senator Torres also said that he had asked Governor Scott to provide vocational training for Puerto Rican people in a temporary housing program, but “we never heard anything from them.”

Scott’s visit to Puerto Rico today was his eighth over the past year.

Back in May he said, “I don’t know what I would do differently” when asked about the federal government’s response in Puerto Rico.

Governor Scott’s office responded this afternoon with a list of 24 actions that the governor has done to respond to Hurricane Maria.

In addition to his eight trips to the island, the list also includes letters  sent to Republican leaders in Congress and administration officials urging them to support Florida’s efforts to support displaced citizens from Puerto Rico.