U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio implored Florida’s new governor to start spreading disaster-relief money approved nearly a year ago to address massive citrus-industry damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Rubio said in a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis that money in a $343 million block grant needs to be disbursed to citrus growers. Rubio said the federal government shutdown has forced the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop processing applications for what is known as the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program, or WHIP, and all disaster assistance payments.