[StBernard] Breaux: Recovery Plan for Louisiana Deserves Senate's Support

[Westley Annis]

Recovery plan for La. deserves Senate's support



By John Breaux

When the costliest hurricanes to ever hit the United States pummeled the
state of Louisiana last August and September, many residents lost everything
they had and were forced to leave the only communities they had ever known.
But slowly they are returning to Louisiana, intent on rebuilding their
homes, their businesses and their lives, and right now they need our help.

That's why I am asking the United States Senate to join the House in
approving the additional $4.2 billion needed to help house thousands of
displaced homeowners in Louisiana.

The initial federal funding of $6.2 billion, while generous and genuinely
appreciated, does not come close to allowing the state to implement a real
plan for housing recovery. The state's plan, based on an analysis by a
consulting firm, calls for an additional $4.2 billion that will give
returning residents four very simple options: repair their homes, rebuild
their homes, relocate their homes or sell their homes.

Louisiana negotiated this plan with the White House and won the strong
endorsement of Don Powell, the White House coordinator for Gulf Coast
recovery. President Bush fully supports this plan and has urged Congress to
resist the temptation to use these funds in other states for other
hurricane-related needs.

The White House gets it: To recover, Louisiana needs the entire $4.2
billion.

In addition to helping homeowners, Louisiana has also developed a plan to
use $1.75 billion to restore Louisiana's rental-property stock. This plan
offers incentives to large and small rental-property owners that encourage
them to invest in rebuilding. Rebuilding rental properties is key to
bringing back the work force in New Orleans and southeast Louisiana and to
preventing the kind of blight and deterioration that might otherwise occur.

The Louisiana model for both homeownership and rental properties is a smart
one based on reinvestment, not reimbursement. It will encourage residents to
return and rebuild in the state, rather than just take a check without
obligation to reinvest it in Louisiana. Louisiana has insisted that for
residents to receive the maximum Community Development Block Grant funds,
the money must be used to reinvest in the state, and in a way that is safer,
stronger and smarter. 

This plan requires that the amount given to each homeowner, which is not to
exceed $150,000, be based upon several variables, including the value of the
property prior to hurricanes, homeowner equity, insurance recovery and flood
insurance. This means there will be no windfalls as a result of this
program. 

Recently, the Army Corps of Engineers stated that it needs an additional $4
billion in funding to repair the levees in southeast Louisiana to the degree
that they qualify for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's
flood-protection program. While this is disappointing news, it does not
present major problems for the housing plan.


>From the beginning, the state's housing plan has required that all homes to

be rebuilt must be behind levees certified by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The announcement may simply necessitate that more homeowners relocate rather
than rebuild where they are.

I feel very good about the housing plan and believe it will provide the much
needed resources to help Louisiana residents get back on their feet.
Louisiana has examined the housing situation down to the block and
neighborhood and can tell you exactly how many homes were damaged and still
need to be repaired. The plan is based on solid figures.

The goal here is not simply to rebuild Louisiana. It is to build a better
Louisiana. Working together, we can do that with this recovery plan, which
is focused and sound and ensures every recovery dollar is spent wisely and
accounted for honestly. Through a professional accounting firm, the plan is
to have ongoing auditing and accountability to ensure all funds spent are in
compliance with federal and state requirements.

Thanks to a fact-based plan, a tough new housing code and reformed levee
standards, we are on our way back and Louisiana residents once again have
hope.

Louisiana has done its part. The U.S. House of Representatives is doing its
part. Now it's up to the Senate to make Louisiana's full recovery a reality.



Breaux, a Democrat, was a United States senator from Louisiana from 1987 to
2005.



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