[StBernard] Gov. Blanco's Letter to the President

[Westley Annis]

Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's Letter to President Bush Regarding
Reimbursement of Regular and Straight-Time for Governmental Employees as a
Result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

BATON ROUGE - Today Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco forwarded a letter to
President Bush requesting reimbursement of regular and straight-time for
governmental employees as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The full
text of the letter follows: 


	October 12, 2005 

	

	The President
	The White House
	Washington, DC 20502

	Subject:            Reimbursement of Regular and Straight-Time for
Governmental 
	                         Employees as a Result of Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita

	Mr. President:

	As you are well aware, many of our southern Louisiana parishes have
been truly devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  In several cases,
their populations have been almost completely displaced, their housing stock
and infrastructure are in shambles, and the economic base that provided the
revenue for governmental operations no longer exists.  This has created a
critical and growing crisis on the southern Louisiana coast, in which parish
and other local governmental entities do not have the resources they need to
pursue recovery efforts or provide even the most basic levels of
governmental services.

	To address this issue, the Congress recently approved additional
funding for the Community Disaster Loan (CDL) program to help infuse much
needed resources into our local governments.  Unfortunately, the conditions
of the new legislation and the structure of the CDL program appear to
provide little hope to our Louisiana communities.  As we discussed on Monday
and as I pointed out to your Chief of Staff again this afternoon, it looks
as if the parishes that are in greatest need of this assistance will not be
able to obtain and utilize these funds quickly, and perhaps not at all.

	In my letter of September 23, 2005, I proposed to you another means
of addressing this fiscal crisis in our parishes - changing FEMA's
regulations to provide for the reimbursement of regular and straight-time
salaries and benefits of governmental employees serving critical
governmental functions, which had been the policy in previous disasters like
Hurricane Andrew.  Doing so would allow funds to begin flowing quickly to
impacted local governments to cover the costs of their workers, thereby
allowing these entities to maintain critical governmental functions and
services as they work to recover from these catastrophic hurricanes.  Now
that it appears that the CDL program may not quickly or effectively satisfy
the needs here in Louisiana, I would encourage you again to act upon my
request.

	It is my understanding that there has been some concern expressed at
the federal level regarding the funding of regular and straight-time
salaries and benefits, due largely to the potential that a return to this
policy might create additional costs to the federal government in responding
to other disaster events around the country.  I am confident that this issue
can be mitigated by limiting the reimbursement of regular and straight-time
costs to only disasters that are found to be truly catastrophic.  For
example, the regulations could be rewritten to allow such reimbursement only
when the cost of damages from a Presidentially-declared disaster is expected
to exceed $200.00 per capita.  Furthermore, the timeframe for reimbursement
of these straight- and regular-time expenses could be limited to twelve
months, which would provide an opportunity for local revenue streams to be
replaced.  Such provisions, if included in revised FEMA regulations, would
li! mit the exposure to the President's Disaster Relief Fund for all but the
most serious disaster events in our nation, when this type of assistance is
truly necessary.

	The situation in our southern parishes is desperate, and your
personal intervention on their behalf is needed.  I again encourage you to
change FEMA's regulations to allow for the reimbursement of regular and
straight-time salaries and benefits of governmental employees.  Approval of
this request will allow our most devastated communities to begin the long
road to recovery without the threat of financial collapse.  

	I and my staff and other state officials will continue to work with
FEMA and your administration to resolve the shortcomings of the CDL program,
but in the meantime I believe your personal intervention to change FEMA's
rules back to the way they were during Hurricane Andrew is critical to
providing the relief that is so urgently needed today.

	Thank you in advance for reconsidering my request on this important
issue.  I will follow up personally with you tomorrow in order to get your
answer to my request.  In the meantime, if you have any questions or
concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

	Sincerely,

	 

	Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
	Governor

	cc: Secretary Andy Card

###

NOTE: The text below is the full text of 44 CFR 206.228 (a)(4) 

[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 44, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]

>From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 44CFR206.228]

[Page 489-490]
 
TITLE 44--EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND ASSISTANCE
 
CHAPTER I--FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
 
PART 206_FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR DISASTERS DECLARED ON OR AFTER
NOVEMBER 23, 1988--Table of Contents
 
Subpart H_Public Assistance Eligibility
 
Sec. 206.228  Allowable costs.

General policies for determining allowable costs are established in 44 CFR
13.22. Exceptions to those policies as allowed in 44 CFR 13.4 and 13.6 are
explained below.

    (a) Eligible direct costs--(1) Applicant-owned equipment. 
Reimbursement for ownership and operation costs of applicant-owned 
equipment used to perform eligible work shall be provided in accordance 
with the following guidelines:

    (i) Rates established under State guidelines. In those cases where 
an applicant uses reasonable rates which have been established or 
approved under State guidelines, in its normal daily operations, 
reimbursement for applicant-owned equipment which has an hourly rate of 
$75 or less shall be based on such rates. Reimbursement for equipment 
which has an hourly rate in excess of $75 shall be determined on a case 
by case basis by FEMA.

    (ii) Rates e! stablished under local guidelines. Where local 
guidelines are used to establish equipment rates, reimbursement will be 
based on those rates or rates in a Schedule of Equipment Rates published 
by FEMA, whichever is lower. If an applicant certifies that its locally 
established rates do not reflect actual costs, reimbursement may be 
based on the FEMA Schedule of Equipment Rates, but the applicant will be 
expected to provide documentation if requested. If an applicant wishes 
to claim an equipment rate which exceeds the FEMA Schedule, it must 
document the basis for that rate and obtain FEMA approval of an 
alternate rate.

    (iii) No established rates. The FEMA Schedule of Equipment Rates 
will be the basis for reimbursement in all cases where an applicant does 
not have established equipment rates.

    (2) Statutory Administrative Costs--(i) Grantee. Under section! 
406(f)(2) of the Stafford Act, we will pay you, the State, an a llowance 
to cover the extraordinary costs that you incur to formulate Project 
Worksheets for small and large projects, to validate small projects, to 
prepare final inspection reports, project applications, final audits, 
and to make related field inspections by State employees. Eligible costs 
include overtime pay and per diem and travel expenses, but do not 
include regular time for your State employees. The allowance to the 
State will be based on the following percentages of the total amount of 
Federal assistance that we provide for all subgrantees in the State 
under sections 403, 406, 407, 502, and 503 of the Act:

    (A) For the first $100,000 of total assistance provided (Federal 
share), three percent of such assistance.

    (B) For the next $900,000, two percent of such assistance.

    (C) For the next $4,000,000, one percent of such as! sistance.

    (D) For assistance over $5,000,000, one-half percent of such 
assistance.

    (ii) Subgrantee. Pursuant to section 406(f)(1) of the Stafford Act, 
necessary costs of requesting, obtaining, and administering Federal 
disaster assistance subgrants will be covered by an allowance which is 
based on the following percentages of net eligible costs under sections 
403, 406, 407, 502, and 503 of the Act, for an individual applicant 
(applicants in this context include State agencies):

    (A) For the first $100,000 of net eligible costs, three percent of 
such costs;

    (B) For the next $900,000, two percent of such costs;

[[Page 490]]

    (C) For the next $4,000,000, one percent of such costs;

    (D) For those costs over $5,000,000, one-half percent of such costs.

    (3) State Management Administrative Costs.

    (i) Grantee. Except for the items listed in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of 
this section, other administrative costs shall be paid in accordance 
with 44 CFR 13.22.

    (ii) Subgrantee. No other administrative costs of a subgrantee are 
eligible because the percentage allowance in paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of 
this section covers necessary costs of requesting, obtaining and 
administering Federal assistance.

    (4) Force Account Labor Costs. The straight- or regular-time 
salaries and benefits of a subgrantee's permanently employed personnel 
are not eligible in calculating the cost of eligible work under sections 
403 an! d 407 of the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5170b and 5173. For the 
performance of eligible permanent restoration under section 406 of the 
Act, 42 U.S.C. 5172, straight-time salaries and benefits of a 
subgrantee's permanently employed personnel are eligible.

    (b) Eligible indirect costs--(1) Grantee. Indirect costs of 
administering the disaster program are eligible in accordance with the 
provisions of 44 CFR part 13 and OMB Circular A-87.

    (2) Subgrantee. No indirect costs of a subgrantee are separately 
eligible because the percentage allowance in paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of 
this section covers necessary costs of requesting, obtaining and 
administering Federal assistance.

[55 FR 2307, Jan. 23, 1990, as amended at 58 FR 47996, Sept. 14, 1993; 63 FR
64426, Nov. 20, 1998; 64 FR 55161, Oct. 12, 1999]