{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://ezell.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1951", "Ezell, Mississippi Delegation Urge FEMA to Fully Fund Biloxi Infrastructure Repairs", "2025-10-20", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "House", "MS", "Mike Ezell", "E000235", "ezell.house.gov", "ezell", "https://ezell.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Today, Congressman Mike Ezell (MS-04) joined members of Mississippi\u2019s Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) urging the agency to approve the City of Biloxi\u2019s Second Appeal for full funding of remaining water, sewer, and storm drainage infrastructure repairs stemming from Hurricane Katrina.\n\nThe appeal seeks an additional $111 million in project funding, based on cost estimates developed by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) in accordance with FEMA\u2019s Cost Estimating Factor formula for large, complex, multi-year projects. MEMA formally transmitted its support for Biloxi\u2019s appeal on September 30, 2025.\n\n\u201cBiloxi has made remarkable progress rebuilding its critical infrastructure after one of the most devastating hurricanes in our nation\u2019s history,\u201d Ezell said. \u201cBut nearly 20 years later, FEMA still hasn\u2019t fully met its obligation to the people of Biloxi. It\u2019s past time to fix that. This appeal is about fairness, accountability, and ensuring our Gulf Coast communities get the support they were promised. Inflation and rising construction costs have only made this situation more urgent. FEMA needs to correct its mistake and fully fund these remaining repairs so Biloxi can finish the job once and for all.\u201d\n\nIn previous correspondence, FEMA acknowledged that key cost factors, including contingencies, inflation, contractor overhead, and permitting, were inadvertently omitted from its original estimate for Biloxi\u2019s infrastructure repair project. Without those adjustments, the City of Biloxi has faced significant funding shortfalls in completing the necessary work.\n\nThe Mississippi delegation\u2019s letter urges FEMA to \u201cchange course\u201d and approve the City\u2019s Second Appeal, ensuring sufficient resources to complete the final phase of the project.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T15:10:06Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://ezell.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1951"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6705491580069065, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}