New Orleans is rebuilding, but very, very slowly. The will is there but the money isn’t, contrary to what most of the country thinks. True, Congress has appropriated billions of dollars to help in the recovery of the whole Gulf Coast but two–at least two–problems are holding things back in New Orleans..
The funds allocated for desperately needed infrastructure repair are very slow in coming because of a regulation requiring a 10 percent, local commitment to each project whether it be a school, hospital, government building, road repair or public transportation. With half the population still unable to return and the tax base correspondingly reduced, the city simply does not have funds to match the federal funds, so the rebuilding has been stymied. (It’s worth noting that in many disasters such as Hurricane Andrew, the 9/11 attacks in New York and major floods in other parts of the country the feds have waived this requirement. Not so this time. It’s a city with a Democratic mayor and a state with a Democratic governor.)
Congress established a Road Home program and appropriated $7.4 billion to provide individual families funds to rebuild their homes. Rather than have a government agency administering the program the job was privatized by awarding the contract to a firm-- ICF Inc.– a firm which has been totally unable to handle the job in spite of the $740 million it’s being paid to do so. At this time–18 months after Katrina–only 500 families have received any Road Home funds. That’s 500 families out of 100,000 who have applied!
The funds allocated for desperately needed infrastructure repair are very slow in coming because of a regulation requiring a 10 percent, local commitment to each project whether it be a school, hospital, government building, road repair or public transportation. With half the population still unable to return and the tax base correspondingly reduced, the city simply does not have funds to match the federal funds, so the rebuilding has been stymied. (It’s worth noting that in many disasters such as Hurricane Andrew, the 9/11 attacks in New York and major floods in other parts of the country the feds have waived this requirement. Not so this time. It’s a city with a Democratic mayor and a state with a Democratic governor.)
Congress established a Road Home program and appropriated $7.4 billion to provide individual families funds to rebuild their homes. Rather than have a government agency administering the program the job was privatized by awarding the contract to a firm-- ICF Inc.– a firm which has been totally unable to handle the job in spite of the $740 million it’s being paid to do so. At this time–18 months after Katrina–only 500 families have received any Road Home funds. That’s 500 families out of 100,000 who have applied!
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