[StBernard] An Update from Bobby - June 15, 2006

[Westley Annis]

An Update from Bobby	 
June 15, 2006	 
Dear friends, 

A fair share for Louisiana

I want to share with you some exciting news for Louisiana. The House of
Representatives Resources Committee yesterday held a hearing on legislation
I have introduced to provide our state with a fair share of energy royalties
produced off Louisiana's coast to provide us with the funding we need to
restore our coastline and invest in our infrastructure. Local leaders and
conservation activists from Louisiana joined me in D.C. to convince my
colleagues of the importance of my bill. I am confident that when my
colleagues vote next Wednesday, they will agree that it is time for
Louisiana to get its fair share, and send this bill to the full House of
Representatives for consideration. The House Leadership has committed that
the full House will vote on this issue during the month of June.

This represents the best chance Louisiana has to receive its fair share of
offshore royalties, and the legislation will also encourage less reliance on
foreign supplies and thus lower gasoline prices. Upon passage, the bill
would bring Louisiana up to 75 percent of energy royalties produced
offshore, which will mean more than $10 billion for the state in just the
first 10 years of the program. That amount grows to more than $28 billion
over the first 20 years and $50 billion over the first 30 years of the bill.
Louisiana has been fighting for fair treatment for decades, and so it is
important that we prevail now that last year's hurricanes and rising energy
prices are focusing attention on our plight. I will keep you updated as this
legislation progresses.

Billions of dollars for Louisiana

Today our state got even more good news. The Senate followed the House's
Tuesday vote to approve legislation providing more than $19.8 billion for
hurricane relief and recovery that will send billions of dollars to
Louisiana for housing redevelopment, flood protection, coastal restoration,
health care, and agriculture relief. 

Crucial funding allocated in this legislation includes: 

- $3.7 billion---Emergency flood protection for Louisiana including money
for both levees and pumping systems

- $5.2 billion---Community Development Block Grants for rebuilding and
repairing homes ($4.2 billion for Louisiana)

- $6 billion---Debris removal, individual assistance, and infrastructure
repairs 

- $550 million---Rebuilding the VA Medical Center

- $50.9 million--- Emergency Watershed Protection Program for waterway
debris removal

- $118 million---Fisheries relief

- $285 million---Education funding for hurricane impacted schools and
universities

Included in this overall funding is $500 million in agriculture emergency
assistance for Gulf Coast farmers and ranchers including:

- $100 million---Funding for the Emergency Forestry Conversation Reserve
Program

- $95 million---Funding for ranchers who lost cattle

- $30 million---Livestock Indemnity Program for poultry and egg producers 

- $35 million---Assistance for tree producers 

- $40 million---Funding for sugar producers and processors

- $15 million---Assistance for cottonseed producers

- $17 million---Funding for dairy farmers who experienced spoilage losses as
result of the hurricanes

- $95 million---Assistance for specialty crops in the Gulf Coast area

I have made sure that my colleagues in the House understand the importance
of this funding as money previously allocated by Congress has yet to make it
to the people who really need it on the ground. Two weeks into the start of
a new hurricane season, we still face many battles in rebuilding, and I am
confident that the President will act quickly and sign this crucial bill
into law. My hope is that the state will use the grant money in this
legislation to help individuals devastated by the storms rebuild their
lives. 

With this new round of assistance, we must ensure that federal and state
agencies spend this funding effectively and efficiently to avoid the waste
that has plagued the recovery effort thus far. I was deeply disturbed to
hear the testimony on Wednesday to a House Homeland Security subcommittee of
even more examples of fraud and waste. The stories defy logic -- inmates
receiving more than $800,000 in assistance checks, an evacuee spending 70
days at a Hawaiian hotel at taxpayer expense, and a man from New Jersey
getting assistance by using a New Orleans cemetery as his home address. We
must ensure that the assistance being sent to Louisiana gets to those who
need it most to begin rebuilding their lives instead of being lost to fraud
and abuse.

Medicare Penalty Waived

I am happy to report that yesterday the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) announced that the Medicare Part D penalty, for those signing
up after the deadline, would be waived for those affected by Hurricane
Katrina. However I was equally disappointed and outraged that CMS did not
include those impacted by Hurricane Rita.

As you might remember, CMS initially provided all individuals in hurricane
impacted areas with a special enrollment period past the initial May 15,
2006 nationwide deadline that gave impacted individuals until December 31,
2006 to enroll or change their Medicare prescription drug plan. However,
Louisiana residents residing in disaster areas were subject to a one percent
cumulative penalty for each month enrollment was delayed.

For the past few weeks, I have been working with the Administration, the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Congressional leadership to waive the
Medicare Part D penalty, which put an undue bureaucratic burden on those
individuals who already suffered so much by last year's storms. 

Unfortunately Hurricane Rita continues to be the storm that Washington
forgot. Hurricane Rita was equally as devastating to those affected and I
will continue to urge the Administration to include these individuals in
this waiver.

Another year goes by

Last Saturday I celebrated my 35th birthday with my family. As a surprise,
my daughter and son planned a day of fun that included going to the zoo and
visiting Chuck E. Cheese to play games and eat pizza. It felt like a hundred
degrees at the zoo, but these are indeed the moments that make life
memorable.

On Wednesday I was honored to be a part of a feature article in The Hill
newspaper which focused on my most important job - that of being a father. I
wish everyone a great Father's Day and hope that you enjoy taking some time
to spend time with your family. 

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Features/CapitalLiving/061406.
html
<http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Features/CapitalLiving/061406
.html> 

Many people in Louisiana send my office email addresses of their friends so
that they can receive regular email updates. That may be how we got your
email address. If you know of someone who might be interested in hearing
about legislation in Congress that could affect Louisiana, please let us
know and we will add them to our list. 

I will keep you informed as more happens in Washington, D.C., but as always,
please feel free to contact my offices to share your views and concerns.

Sincerely,

Bobby Jindal