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Additional Views on H.R. 1227, "Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007" |
By all accounts, the 2005 Hurricane season included arguably the most destructive and costly natural disasters in United States history. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused $67 billion in damage to housing in the Gulf region, including major or severe damage to 265,000 homes and apartments in Louisiana and Mississippi. Families with very low incomes occupied 44 percent of the damaged housing, and many of these families are still waiting to rebuild or return to permanent housing. The devastation caused by these catastrophic events has presented the nation and those directly affected with unique challenges. Hurricane Katrina devastated 90,000 square miles, left 770,000 people homeless, and caused a death toll of 1,464 in Louisiana alone. The recovery process has seemed slow and uneven to many of those affected. Rebuilding has been hindered by the severity of the damage, the need to limit future flood damage, and the need to coordinate the recovery among many levels of government and the private sector. Lawmakers, former residents, and others are looking forward to a long-term solution for sustainable rebuilding. In response to the disasters, the Federal Government has committed more than $110 billion to help the Gulf Coast, including $16.7 billion for the CDBG program. When it passed the supplemental appropriations including the CDBG funds, Congress included provisions dictating that the Federal Government would prescribe how local communities were to use the money in their recovery efforts. Furthermore, the states were asked to submit to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) detailed state plans outlining how they intended to use the funds. To date, HUD has received and approved $10.5 billion worth of recovery plans from the affected States. Rebuilding New Orleans Public Housing Many discussions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have centered on the appropriate plan for rebuilding, the reconstruction of affordable housing, and the issue of one-for-one replacement of public housing. There is general consensus that those who wish to return to New Orleans who lived there when Katrina hit should be allowed to do so. In fact, in August of 2006, Secretary Jackson said when he visited New Orleans, `every family who wants to come home should have the opportunity to come back. . . .' With that goal in mind, last summer, HUD, the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO), the Enterprise Foundation, and Catholic Charities announced plans to create a mixed-use development on the site of the Lafitte public housing project. Not only could this project serve as a model for the future of rebuilding in New Orleans, if successful, it could also prove to be a useful example for new Hope VI mixed-use projects in other cities. In testimony before the Committee on February 6, 2007, Assistant Secretary Bernardi stated the following:
Yet, progress on the rebuilding of decent, affordable housing for public housing residents has been delayed for a variety of reasons. A long-standing feeling of mistrust of HUD and HANO among public housing tenants in New Orleans has helped to significantly hamper the progress on rebuilding public housing. In the past, mixed-use development in New Orleans has been badly managed and has in some cases taken years to complete resulting in only a handful of former residents returning to their neighborhood. An advocacy group, arguing that it would be more cost-effective to rehabilitate the existing public housing units and that the project would displace public housing tenants who could not afford the mixed-use rents, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the redevelopment plan. Interestingly, the cost to the Federal government is nearly the same to implement phased-in, mixed-use redevelopment as to repair existing units, because the redevelopment plan would benefit from leveraged outside funding. The hope is, however, that a redeveloped property would have more to offer residents, such as, green spaces, larger units, a better quality of life, and a more seamless integration into the community. In an effort to address the fears of public housing residents who are concerned that mixed development will mean fewer units available for previous residents, HUD has committed to a one-for-one replacement for those residents wishing to return. Ability of Homeowners to Rebuild While much of the Committee's focus has rested on the state of New Orleans' public housing and other government-subsidized multifamily housing, it is crucial to also look at the difficulties homeowners in the Gulf Region face while trying to rebuild. Such hurdles standing in the way of rebuilding include a lack of information about how to rebuild, an inability to obtain homeowners insurance, gaps between insurance funds and the cost of rebuilding, and the lack of services and commerce that round out the community. These are the problems many middle-class families in Mississippi and Louisiana are grappling with, as they struggle to rebuild modest homes in a region that no longer seems fertile for affordable housing. Both Louisiana and Mississippi have formed corporations to monetarily assist homeowners during the rebuilding process. According to the Democratic Majority, `some 18 months after these storms, the pace of recovery of housing repair and reconstruction is not as robust in many areas as many had hoped. The pace of home repair, particularly in areas within Louisiana, has been slow.' While the Republican Minority agrees with this sentiment, it also believes that inherent differences in the rebuilding plans that Louisiana and Mississippi have adopted contribute to this uneven recovery. Through the testimony of several witnesses, the Committee has repeatedly been told that the Mississippi plan generally results in homeowners receiving rebuilding funds more quickly than their Louisiana counterparts. ~~~ KATRINA FIELD HEARINGS (FEBRUARY 22 AND 23, 2007)On February 22 and 23, the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity held two days of field hearings in New Orleans and Mississippi. In the hearings' discussion of public housing in the Gulf Region, the Committee examined complicated questions surrounding the fate of public housing in New Orleans, the ability of former residents to return, if they choose, and barriers at the local and Federal levels of government to rebuilding. Additionally, the Subcommittee discussed the benefits and importance of rebuilding neighborhoods conducive to homeownership, as well as affordable housing for low-income renters. The general consensus is that such a result can be accomplished by mixed-use redevelopment that supports affordable housing as part of a broader community, as opposed to traditional public housing that often isolates residents in severe economic distress. While recognizing that former public housing residents are eager to return home, any plan focused on these tenants should acknowledge that safer, more sustainable housing must be the ultimate goal. CONCERNS REGARDING H.R. 1227On March 6, 2007, the Committee on Financial Services approved H.R. 1227, the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007, legislation that would make changes to several Federal housing programs, including temporary programs created to assist the housing needs of families affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. While Committee Republicans share the goal of supplying displaced families with stability and ensuring their access to safe, affordable housing, a number of provisions in H.R. 1227 are troubling. Generally, we are concerned that the legislation addresses issues far beyond the scope of the bill's stated intent. For example, the legislation turns what is currently a temporary disaster voucher into a permanent voucher which disappears when the recipient no longer meets the eligibility requirements. In addition, the bill requires HUD to provide tenant replacement vouchers for all public housing units not brought back on line, including those slated for demolition prior to the storms. Further, in the 109th Congress, the Republican Majority committed more than $110 billion to assist the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast; yet to date; only a small portion has been committed and or distributed to those in need. To help ameliorate these concerns, the Committee Republicans offered a total of 21 amendments to H.R. 1227 at markup. Ten of these amendments were accepted by the Committee by voice vote, resulting in an improved bill. A summary of the accepted amendments follows:
In addition to the preceding amendments that were agreed to, the Republican Minority offered several other amendments that would have substantially improved the legislation's ability to meet its stated remedial purposes and ensure stronger taxpayer protection. Amendments offered, but not accepted, include the following: ~~~
Judy Biggert. Randy Neugebauer. Spencer Bachus III.
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