[StBernard] Melancon and Congressional Leadership Discuss Progress of Katrina/Rita Hurricane Recovery Legislation

[Westley Annis]

	WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon joined members of the
Congressional leadership today for a conference call to discuss recent
legislation passed by the House of Representatives to address the ongoing
recovery needs in the Gulf Coast region.  
	 
	Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, leader of the Katrina/Rita Working
Group, said "I'm proud of the leadership exhibited by our Caucus this month
with passage of these hurricane recovery bills; namely our distinguished
Chairmen, Rep. Charlie Melancon and the members of the Gulf Coast region.
Congressman Melancon has been tireless in his efforts to implore Congress to
respond to the needs of the communities he represents.  He now has a
Congress that will work with him to deliver for the Gulf Coast."
	 
	"When my leadership visited south Louisiana last August, they made a
commitment that if they gained the majority, they would do more to help the
people of the Gulf Coast recover and rebuild from Katrina and Rita," said
Rep. Melancon.  "Today, after only three months of being in the leadership
of the House, I can say we are well on our way to fulfilling that promise.
	 
	"Already we have passed legislation to provide over $6.4 billion in
additional relief aide for farmers, shrimpers, local governments, schools,
levee construction, and other needs.  We have addressed the need for more
affordable housing in south Louisiana, and cut red tape that was holding up
over $1 billion for the Road Home program.  And we have loosened regulations
that were preventing the state from helping local governments cover the
local match required for federally funded disaster recovery projects.
	 
	"Looking forward, we have bills on the table to address the
insurance crisis, fix the SBA's disaster loan program, provide long-term
help for schools and universities, and to get started on much-needed
hurricane protection and coastal restoration projects.  In the next few
months, we will be moving forward with addressing these needs, which have
been neglected for over a year and a half.
	 
	"This Congress has made hurricane recovery on the Gulf Coast a top
priority.  I thank the leadership for remembering and responding to our
struggles in south Louisiana, and I look forward to continuing our work in
the coming months."
	 
	A summary and approved and pending legislation follows.
	 
	Hurricane Recovery Legislation Passed by the House this Congress
	 
	Since the 110th Congress adjourned in January with the new
Democratic majority, Rep. Melancon has joined his colleagues in passing the
following legislation that will help people in south Louisiana recover from
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:
	 
	Budget Resolution Designating $4.4 billion for Hurricane Recovery
Efforts (expected to pass the House shortly).  Rep. Melancon requested that
appropriators prepare for additional Hurricane Katrina and Rita recovery
needs when drafting this year's budget resolution.  The Resolution on the
Budget for Fiscal Year 2008 (H. Con. Res. 99), which is expected to pass the
House today, creates a reserve fund and provides $3.4 billion for Hurricane
Katrina and Rita recovery efforts.  The Resolution also provides $1 billion
in discretionary funds for housing and income security programs
	 
	Emergency Supplemental Providing $6.4 Billion in Hurricane Disaster
Assistance for Gulf Coast.  Rep. Melancon worked with House appropriators to
get a number of Louisiana's most critical needs in the Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations bill (H.R. 1591), passed by the House on March
23rd.  These provisions include:  
	      

	*	$140 million in agriculture disaster assistance to help
citrus, livestock, and rice producers. 

	 

	*	$120 million for fisheries relief, with a focus on helping
the shrimping and menhaden industries 

	 

	*	$1.3 billion for continuing construction of the east and
west bank levee protection system in New Orleans and surrounding parishes

	 

	*	Community Disaster Loan forgiveness, which will save local
governments in Louisiana an estimated $1 billion

	 

	*	$4.3 billion for FEMA disaster recovery grants, with funding
to cover the 10% local match included

	 

	*	$60 million in emergency K-12 and higher education
recruitment and recovery assistance (similar to RENEWAAL Act)

	 

	*	$25 million for Small Business Administration disaster
loans.

	 

	*	$80 million for HUD tenant-based rental assistance.

	 

	*	Extension of FEMA utility subsidy program that reimburses
parish governments for the cost of paying utility bills for essential
government employees still working and living in FEMA trailers

	 

	*	Extension of the availability of Social Services Block
Grants for hurricane-affected areas, which provides funding for critically
needed social services including programs for mental health, child welfare,
and the treatment of addictive disorders.

	 

	*	Extension of the Secretary of Education's authority to waive
certain regulations for emergency assistance to reopen schools in
hurricane-impacted school districts for another year (Rep. Melancon had
introduced identical legislation earlier this year)

	 

	*	$10 million for HUD and FEMA Inspector General offices, to
increase scrutiny of hurricane recovery dollars.

	 
	Legislation Providing More Aid for Hurricane Evacuees, Funding the
10% Local Match for Rebuilding Projects, and Freeing Up $1.175 Billion for
the "Road Home" Program.  Rep. Melancon co-sponsored the Gulf Coast
Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007 (H.R. 1227), which passed the House
on March 21st.  The bill will free up $1.175 billion in federal funds for
use by Louisiana's Road Home program that had been withheld because of a
bureaucratic dispute.  The bill will also allow Louisiana to use previously
appropriated federal Community Development Block Grants to cover the local
match required for disaster recovery projects, many of which have been on
hold because local governments lack the tax base to pay for the estimated $1
billion local match required.  The bill will also waive a regulation
requiring Road Home grants to be reduced because of other disaster relief
already received, such as immediate disaster relief and insurance payments.
Finally, the bill will help low-income renters by extending a federal
housing voucher program to those still displaced by Katrina and Rita until
2008. 
	 
	Legislation Increasing Construction of Affordable Housing in
Hurricane Devastated Areas.  The hurricanes damaged or destroyed hundreds of
thousands of homes in south Louisiana, and people who have returned face a
severe housing shortage and skyrocketing rents.  To address this problem so
working people can afford to move home sooner, Rep. Melancon joined his
colleagues in the House in passing the Katrina Housing Tax Relief Act of
2007 (H.R. 1562) on March 27th.  This legislation extends the availability
of tax incentives for developers who build affordable rental housing in
hurricane-affected areas of the Gulf Coast until 2010 and also allows these
tax credits to be combined with Community Development Block Grants. This
bill would also help homeowners in the Gulf Coast regio! n by allowing
tax-exempt government bonds to be used to refinance existing mortgages on
homes that were damaged by the hurricanes in the area, giving homeowners
much-needed money to rebuild their homes.
	 
	Legislation Continuing Massive Coastal Restoration Project.
Following a request from Rep. Melancon, House appropriators added funding
for the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) to the funding resolution
passed in February to keep the federal government running through fiscal
year 2007.  In general, the resolution kept funding at fiscal 2006 levels
and excluded any earmarks.  However, Rep. Melancon was able to convince
appropriators that the CIAP was too vital to Louisiana to be put on hold for
another year.   The Coastal Impact Assistance Program, which was established
in 2005 and will provide Louisiana with approximately $540 million in
federal funding over the next four years, authorizes funds to be distributed
to Outer Co! ntinental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas producing states for the
purposes of coastal restoration and mitigation of the impacts of OCS oil and
gas activities.  Without the CIAP funding Rep. Melancon was able to get
included in the funding resolution, implementation of the program would have
ground to a halt and important coastal restoration projects would have been
delayed even longer. 
	 
	Legislation Helping Women- and Minority-Owned Small Businesses
Affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  On March 26th, the House passed
the Disadvantaged Business Disaster Eligibility Act (H.R. 1468).  The bill
would extend for an additional 18 months the eligibility of women- and
minority-owned small businesses in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and
Rita to participate in a program that helps them qualify for federal
contracts.
	 
	Pending Legislation
	 
	U.S. Rep. Melancon has worked with leadership in the House to
introduce legislation that will:
	 
	Reform the Small Business Administration and their Disaster Loan
Program.  The SBA's response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was a debacle.
The agency was understaffed, poorly trained, poorly managed, and overall
unprepared to respond effectively to the urgent need for disaster relief
loans. By February of this year - almost a year and half after Katrina and
Rita made landfall - only 38% of SBA loan applications had been approved and
funded.  Rep. Melancon joined House Small Business Committee Chairwoman
Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) in introducing The Relief for Entrepreneurs:
Coordination of Objectives and Values for Effective Recovery (RECOVER) Act
of 2007 in early March.  This legislation would better prepare the SBA to
handle future disasters ! by requiring, among other reforms, that the agency
to develop a comprehensive disaster response plan, improve employee
training, streamline their information tracking system and follow-up
process, and more efficiently distribute disaster loans by partnering with
private lenders.  
	 
	In addition, Rep. Melancon worked to make sure the RECOVER Act
included language to make the SBA more flexible and permit the agency to
approve larger grants for businesses that become major sources of employment
following disasters.  Rep. Melancon learned from constituents in south
Louisiana that some businesses along the Gulf Coast were denied sufficient
loans following Katrina and Rita because the SBA judged their applications
solely based on their pre-storm capabilities - not on the new realities they
were trying to adjust to and their ability to meet post-storm demands.  This
commonsense provision will loosen that restriction and help cut the red tape
strangling small business owners trying to recover.
	 
	Address the Property Insurance Crisis.  Rep. Melancon is working
with Rep. Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee,
and other coastal Members to develop legislation to address the insurance
crisis facing Louisiana and other coastal states.  The working group is
drafting a bill that would create a national catastrophe program for
property insurance, with the ultimate goal of increasing coverage areas and
reducing multi-peril insurance rates. Unlike other proposals currently under
consideration, this plan would allow the private sector to take the lead on
property insurance, while the government would provide a federal backstop in
cases where a natural catastrophe reached a significant level, beyond the
capacity of the private market.  This bill would ensure that! people have
access to affordable insurance for all manner of disasters, including
hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, and mudslides.    
	 
	Waive Regulation Requiring People to Repay SBA Loans with their Road
Home Grants.  Hurricane victims in south Louisiana need all the help they
can get with rebuilding their homes and getting their lives back to normal.
They don't need the federal government giving with one hand and taking with
the other.  For that reason, Rep. Melancon has introduced the Catastrophic
Disaster Recovery Improvements Act to waive the current federal requirement
that hurricane disaster victims use their Road Home grants to first pay back
any loans they have received from the Small Business Administration.  Sen.
Mary Landrieu has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
	 
	Authorize Major Hurricane Protection and Coastal Restoration
Projects in South Louisiana.  Rep. Melancon worked with House Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar to get major south
Louisiana hurricane protection and coastal restoration projects included in
this year's water projects bill. The Water Resources Development Act of
2007, which Chairman Oberstar has said will be voted on by the House in the
next few weeks, will: 
	 
	o       Authorize the closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet
	 
	o       Authorize over $1.2 billion for vital south Louisiana
hurricane protection and coastal restoration projects identified in the
Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Ecosystem Restoration Study.   
	 
	o       Fully authorize the Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico hurricane
protection system that will protect about 120,000 people and 1,700 square
miles of land in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes against storm surges such
as those caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  
	 
	o       Authorize the Port of Iberia to be dredged to a depth of 16
feet.
	 
	Provide Long-term Assistance to Schools and Universities Devastated
by Katrina and Rita.  Rep. Melancon joined House Education and Labor
Committee Chairman George Miller in introducing legislation to help schools
and institutes of higher education all along the Gulf Coast recover and
rebuild following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The Revitalizing New Orleans
by Attracting America's Leaders (RENEWAAL) Act of 2007 provides incentives
to qualified teachers and principals that stay in or return to
hurricane-impacted public schools and commit to work there for at least
three years.  The bill will also assist these educators with relocation
costs to move back, housing and student loan forgiveness. In addition,
higher education institutions that are still struggling with the aftermath
of Hur! ricanes Rita and Katrina would receive help in recruiting and
retaining faculty and students.  
	 
	Eliminate Financial Burden on Local Governments Trying to Rebuild.
Rep. Melancon joined Majority Whip Clyburn in introducing the Hurricane
Katrina and Rita Federal Match Relief Act of 2007.  The bill was introduced
almost immediately after the Katrina Working Group was formed in February.
It would waive the 25 percent (already reduced to 10%) local funding match
required under the Stafford Act for disaster relief, requiring FEMA and the
federal government to cover 100% of the costs of these disaster recovery
projects.  Removing the state and local match for federal assistance grants
would allow the state to invest an estimated additional $800 million in
critical needs, including repairing our police stations, fire stations and
other importa! nt infrastructure.  The bill will also forgive 100% of
Community Disaster Loans, which has been done in the past for other major
disasters like Hurricane Andrew and the September 11th terrorist attacks.
Local governments in Louisiana say this would relieve them of an estimated
$1 billion in debt they don't have the tax base to repay.  The 10% local
match was subsequently addressed in the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing
Recovery Act of 2007, which allows the state to use federal CDBG monies for
the local match, and the Emergency Supplemental, which provides additional
federal money to cover the local match for future projects.  Language
forgiving Community Disaster Loans was also included in the Emergency
Supplemental.
	 
	 
	# # #