{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-secures-over-300-million-in-outstanding-helene-payments-for-georgia-vows-to-continue-fighting-for-funding/", "Warnock Secures Over $300 Million in Outstanding Helene Payments for Georgia, Vows to Continue Fighting for Funding", "2025-12-12", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "GA", "Raphael G. Warnock", "W000790", "www.warnock.senate.gov", "warnock", "https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "Funding comes after pressure from Senator Reverend Warnock and as Georgia localities were readying for lawsuits from contractors seeking payment for work done in the wake of Hurricane Helene\n\nIn September, Senator Warnock released a report finding the Trump Administration was shortchanging Georgians half a billion dollars in disaster relief aid\n\nFollowing the Senator\u2019s September report, the Senator found the number increased to $600 million\n\nFollowing this announcement, localities in Georgia are still waiting for nearly half of the outstanding payments the federal government said it would cover; Senator Warnock will continue fighting until the administration delivers Georgia the recovery funding they were promised\n\nSenator Warnock: \u201cAfter months of putting pressure on this administration to deliver for Georgians, I am proud to have secured over $300 million in federal funding owed to Georgia\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) announced he secured $314 million in federal funding for outstanding payments owed to Georgia counties and entities in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The money was released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following months of pressure from Senator Warnock to get Georgia communities, particularly in rural parts of the state, the money they were promised for recovery efforts following Helene\u2019s destruction.\n\n\u201cAfter months of pressuring this administration to deliver for Georgians, I am proud to have secured over $300 million in federal funding owed to Georgia. Hurricanes and natural disasters are not political; they do not care if you voted red or blue, and Georgia counties and cities went right to work recovering from Helene\u2019s destruction with the understanding the federal government would fulfill its promises and pay their share,\u201d said Senator Warnock.\u201cIt should not have gotten to this point, and there is still more work to be done. I will continue fighting until Georgia\u2019s communities, particularly in rural Georgia, get every cent they are owed.\u201d\n\nThis month, Senator Warnock released a statement after new evidence emerged showing that the Trump Administration owed $600 million in Hurricane Helene recovery aid to Georgians. In September, the Senator released a report finding that nearly $500 million in promised federal funding for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts remained unpaid. The funding, part of a disaster recovery bill championed by Senator Warnock in 2024, is meant to reimburse local communities for funds spent on recovery. Despite bipartisan Congressional support for the immediate delivery of disaster recovery funds, the distribution of aid has been stifled by bureaucratic red tape and chaos in the Trump Administration.\n\nA list of Georgia counties and localities receiving federal funding can be found below (this is not a comprehensive list of entities receiving funding):", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "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://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-secures-over-300-million-in-outstanding-helene-payments-for-georgia-vows-to-continue-fighting-for-funding/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7800699677318335, "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"}