[StBernard] Times-Picayune Editorial: The Case for a Waiver

[Westley Annis]

Times-Picayune Editorial: The Case for a Waiver

On occasion, the LRA shares editorials or news articles related to the recovery. The following editorial ran in today's Times-Picayune. 

Governments generally spend more wisely if some of their own money is at stake. That's why the federal Stafford Act, which rules how the Federal Emergency Management Agency dispenses disaster aid, requires state and local governments to share rebuilding costs. 

But the Stafford Act also allows the president to waive the local match if it's unduly burdensome due to the disaster's impact or the lack of local funds. 

More than 17 months after Hurricane Katrina, efforts to rebuild public infrastructure in New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast are stalling as cash-strapped communities struggle to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars for their share. 

Those communities need the administration to waive the local match or Congress to amend the Stafford Act to achieve the same result. Each has precedent. 

The federal government waived the local match after Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in 1992 and again following the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York. 

Congress has suspended other Stafford Act requirements in the past. In 2001, for example, it amended the law to specifically make some private hospitals in Houston eligible for Stafford Act aid after Tropical Storm Allison. 

Louisianans appreciate the federal aid received so far. The Bush administration has already reduced the local share for public infrastructure expenses from the usual 25 percent to 10 percent, though that's not uncommon -- the president did it after nine storms in 2004 alone. 

But a 10 percent match could still come near or surpass $800 million, according to the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which is lobbying for a full waiver. 

Considering the aforementioned precedents, Louisiana has a strong case for a waiver. Katrina's devastation easily surpassed the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew and the terrorist attacks on Manhattan. And unlike those past examples, a federal agency -- the Army Corps of Engineers -- was responsible for most of the destruction in New Orleans when the corps shoddy levees failed. 

So far, the Bush administration has said Louisiana should tap federal recovery grants to pay for the local match. But that would eat away money that could be used for other urgent recovery needs, from economic development to rebuilding expenses. Besides, the federal government did not ask New York and Florida to use federal grants when it granted them waivers. Katrina-affected communities should get similar consideration. 

Katrina was unprecedented, but a full waiver of the local share is not. Louisiana is only asking to be treated as others have been after extraordinary disasters.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, claiming 1,464 lives, destroying more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses. The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the planning and coordinating body that was created in the aftermath of these storms by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to lead one of the most extensive rebuilding efforts in the world. The LRA is a 33-member body which is coordinating across jurisdictions, supporting community recovery and resurgence, ensuring integrity and effectiveness, and planning for the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana.

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