Broken Promises to a Broken Gulf (NY Times editorial)

Published: April 17, 2007

President Bush has reneged on his promises to Katrina's victims. Shamefully, the president has chosen the interests of bureaucracy over those of American towns on the brink of failure.

Over a year and a half later, there are 64,000 people still sleeping in trailers in Louisiana and far too many communities without schools, hospitals and other basics. These are unacceptable failures. At least part of the problem is a law that requires states to contribute 10 percent of the cost of most federally financed reconstruction projects. Mr. Bush waived that requirement after the Sept. 11 attacks (as his father did after Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki) but he refuses to do so for the Gulf Coast.

A law written to deal with isolated tornadoes does not fit the total devastation of an entire region, and particularly the drowning of a major city like New Orleans. But municipalities are still being asked to pony up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, even when they are broke.

Louisiana has tried to ease the problem by covering the local share out of a separate pot of money (from Housing and Urban Development block grants) only to find the conflicting demands of the two federal bureaucracies nearly insurmountable.

In Louisiana, this bureaucratic nightmare has left the financing for roughly 20,000 projects in limbo, while generating 2.6 million documents and the attendant overhead costs. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, both the House and the Senate have passed versions of the cost-sharing waiver, but they are attached to the spending bill for Iraq, which President Bush has vowed to veto if it includes a deadline for a troop withdrawal. The administration also argues that Congress has already committed over $110 billion for Gulf Coast relief and reconstruction.

That is certainly a large sum. But so much money was spent on immediate needs, like housing victims in hotels, that only a relatively small share was left for rebuilding the shattered coastal areas across five states. The State of Louisiana estimates the gap between the devastation there and the federal and private payouts at $34 billion.

It is particularly unfortunate because New Orleans — where the failure of the federally built levee system led to the most damage and suffering — has finally come up with a limited, practicable rebuilding program that requires the waiver. Led by a respected disaster recovery expert, Edward Blakely, the $1.1 billion plan focuses on 17 areas for rebuilding, including the city's historic centers, old markets and key traffic junctures.

The city says it will finance its plan mostly through a pair of bond issues and partly with federal funds. Even then it expects to come up $324 million short. New Orleans could get the money from the state — if the matching requirement were waived. Those state funds are currently waiting to be used to cover the 10 percent share of those 20,000 projects.

In a lofty speech soon after Katrina, Mr. Bush vowed that "we will do what it takes" to rebuild the damaged communities. He did not say, "Unless easily waived regulatory restrictions prohibit us."