[StBernard] Numbers in Louisiana's favor in getting federal aid

[Westley Annis]

Numbers in Louisiana's favor in getting federal aid

By Gordon Russell
Staff writer 

As a fight gears up in Washington over the allocation of $4.2 billion in
additional housing aid that President Bush wants to send to Louisiana, state
officials are hoping that cold, hard data -- rather than political stroke --
carries the day. 

To that end, officials from the Louisiana Recovery Authority are trumpeting
new federal data released this week that shows that Louisiana bore the
lion's share of the damage inflicted by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma
-- with Louisiana suffering twice as many damaged homes as Mississippi,
Florida, Texas and Alabama combined. 

The numbers, authority director Andy Kopplin said, strongly bolster the
state's claim to the entire $4.2 billion, which became the focus of intense
jockeying this week after a House committee stripped from Bush's request the
language dedicating the money to Louisiana, opening the door to legislators
from those other states. A final vote on the money is not expected until
later this spring. 

In the meantime the recovery authority is going on the offensive. It has
hired the lobbying firm Ketchum Inc. to help peddle its message to members
of Congress, Kopplin said, and is sending LRA member Shawn Reilly to
Washington next week to meet with various legislators and staff members. 

Reilly said he made a pitch to Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey
Graham, R-S.C., as they visited New Orleans on Friday. Reilly said the two
senators seemed receptive. 

The figures, compiled by the office of federal Gulf Coast recovery
coordinator Donald Powell, show Louisiana had more than 204,000 housing
units with major or severe damage -- or more than $5,200 worth of damage. By
comparison, similar damage in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Texas
combined affected 100,372 properties. 

In fact, New Orleans alone had more homes in that damage category -- 105,155
-- than the combined total of the four other states. 

A comparison of the two hardest-hit states - Louisiana and Mississippi -
shows that Louisiana had more than three times as many homes with major to
severe damage. Mississippi had 61,386 units with major to severe damage. 

Louisiana's disproportionate share of the devastation is even more dramatic
when it comes to homes that FEMA classifies as severely damaged or
destroyed--those considered practically demolished by the storms. Louisiana
has more than five times the number of housing units that meet that
description than the combined sum of the four neighboring states. 

The recovery authority released the data after it received it from Powell,
named by President George W. Bush to oversee and coordinate federal relief
efforts in the Gulf states. 

Kopplin called the figures a "treasure trove" that should bolster the
state's efforts to get a fair share of federal relief. He said the tables
represent the first apples-to-apples comparisons of damage across state
lines, and he believes the numbers should drive congressional decisions
about how to dole out aid. 

Bush last month announced he would ask Congress to devote $4.2 billion in
community development block grants to Louisiana. The recovery authority has
proposed using part of that money, along with $6.2 billion already allocated
to the state, to pay for grants to owners of damaged properties to renovate
or sell their homes. 

But on Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee stripped the language
from the request that earmarked the money for Louisiana, following efforts
by Texas politicians to claim a share of the money. Texas Gov. Rick Perry,
who testified before the committee's Senate counterpart, asked for $2
billion to cover unmet needs in his state. 

In a visit to New Orleans the following day, Bush reiterated his commitment
to direct the entire $4.2 billion to Louisiana. But the final decision will
rest with Congress. 

Despite the president's support, authority members don't expect an easy time
in Congress. Kopplin noted Friday that Louisiana suffers from a lack of
political stroke, with only one member on the House Appropriations
Committee. Texas, by comparison, has five. Moreover, Louisiana's lone voice
on the panel, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, has the least seniority of
any committee member. 

"We don't have the most powerful legislative delegation up there," Kopplin
said. "But at least we have the facts on our side." 

Thus far, the federal block-grant money approved for Louisiana doesn't
correspond with the outsized damage the state suffered, according to the
figures. 

Congress has allocated $6.2 billion in block grants to Louisiana, 54 percent
of the total amount dispensed to date. The new figures suggest Louisiana
deserves at least a 67 percent share, based upon the number of housing units
that received major or severe damage. But state officials said Louisiana's
percentage should be even higher because the state has 85 percent of the
homes that were destroyed by the storms - a group of structures that will
presumably cost the most to fix. 

Mississippi, by comparison, has received about $5.3 billion in block grants,
despite having less than one-third as many homes as Louisiana with major or
severe damage. Also, Mississippi has only about one-seventh the number of
destroyed housing units as Louisiana. 

But Mississippi has enviable stroke in Washington compared to Louisiana.
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. And
the state's governor, Haley Barbour, is a former chairman of the GOP as well
as a founding member of a powerful Washington lobbying firm who is also
close to Bush. 

Were federal money doled out according to mathematical rules rather than
political ones - in other words, if Louisiana's federal allocation was
proportional to both the damage the state suffered and the amount already
given to Mississippi - Louisiana's share of federal aid would amount to at
least $16 billion, the numbers suggest. However, officials said getting that
much seems unlikely at this point. Even if the entire $4.2 billion requested
by Bush indeed goes to Louisiana, the state's total allocation of block
grants would still only amount toonly $10.4 billion.

Gordon Russell can be reached at grussell at timespicayune.com or at (504)
826-3347.