NEW REPORT: Gulf Coast needs Congress to act
This week marks the 18-month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The Gulf Coast is still in crisis -- tens of thousands of people are still displaced, the region's recovery stalled due to a lack of housing, jobs, schools and other basic needs.
Today, Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch has released A New Agenda for the Gulf (pdf), a 14-page report documenting the scope of the crisis in the Gulf. The report also reveals that -- while state and local leadership is important -- many of the most impressing issues go straight to Washington, and that federal action is needed to jump-start the recovery.
The report gives over 30 action steps Congress and the President can take now to help turn things around.
President Bush and the new Congressional leadership have all said Katrina and the Gulf Coast are still a top priority. It's time for them to live up to their promises and responsibility, and help rebuild the Gulf South.
Read the full release after the jump:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, February 26, 2007
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chris Kromm, 919-419-8311 x26, chris@southernstudies.org
Sue Sturgis, 919-419-8311 x25, sue@southernstudies.org
Congressional Action Needed to Jump-Start Gulf Recovery
New report from watchdog group documents ongoing Katrina crisis, practical solutions for Washington
DURHAM, N.C. - On the 18-month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf Coast is still in crisis -- and bold action from Congress is needed now to get the region's recovery back on track, according to a new report by a nonprofit research group following the post-Katrina recovery
Drawing on statistical indicators and interviews with dozens of Gulf leaders and policy experts, the study by the Institute for Southern Studies documents "fundamental barriers" that are holding back the region's recovery, from a dearth of affordable housing to overburdened schools and a crippled health care system.
The 14-page report -- A New Agenda for the Gulf Coast -- also inventories over 30 practical policy steps that Congress and the President can quickly act on to help the region.
"Half the people of New Orleans weren't home last week to celebrate Mardi Gras because they still can't find good housing, jobs and schools," said Chris Kromm, executive director of the non-partisan Institute. "Washington can and must do better -- only national leadership can turn things around."
Although state and local leadership is critical, the report reveals that many areas of the Gulf recovery still hinge on federal policy. For example:
* A lack of affordable housing is still a major problem; over 100,000 are still living in FEMA trailers or receiving housing aid. Congress can quickly help Gulf residents get back into homes by speeding up compensation to homeowners; extending aid to renters; cracking down on insurance companies that denied coverage; and reversing HUD's decision to raze 5,000 barely-damaged public housing units in New Orleans.
* Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast's health care system, especially for the most vulnerable, and plans to use a Medicaid waiver and Medicare pilot project have been delayed. Washington can help by re-starting these efforts; linking displaced patients with care; and injecting resources into community-based clinics.
* The region's economy is still hobbling and good jobs are scarce, yet efforts like the Bush Administration's "Gulf Opportunity Zones" have been scattershot and ineffective. Attaching accountability standards to federal subsidies, as well as launching a Gulf Civic Works Program to hire 100,000 displaced people to rebuild, would boost the region's revivial.
* The 2007 hurricane season is less than four months away, but the Gulf's storm defenses are still woefully inadequate; three scientific studies have blasted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' levee plans. Gulf advocates are calling for prompt building of levees that can withstand a Category 5 hurricane, and for Congress to create a commission to investigate levee failures and cancel wasteful projects like the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.
President Bush and Congressional leaders claim that over $100 billion has been spent on Katrina recovery, but the report notes that this spending has been undermined by "missteps, delays and general lack of creative vision." Money has often bypassed those in need; for example, rebuilding contracts worth over $8 billion -- many given to politically connected firms without open bidding -- are under investigation for fraud and abuse.
But Katrina is still a national problem that demands national solutions, the report concludes. In many cases, the "next steps" are clear: "All that is needed is for federal policy-makers to live up to their promises and responsibility to help the Gulf coast and its people rebuild."
"The United States has overcome enormous domestic challenges before," says report co-author Sue Sturgis. "Though the crisis in the Gulf is among the most difficult, we remain convinced that it can be solved with the caring and good will of the American people, and renewed leadership in Washington."
Founded in 1970, the Durham-based Institute for Southern Studies has been tracking the post-Katrina Gulf Coast since October 2005, when it launched Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch (southernstudies.org/gulfwatch). Gulf Watch has produced several widely-acclaimed reports on post-Katrina New Orleans and Mississippi, including "The Mardi Gras Index" (Feb. 2006) and "One Year after Katrina" (Aug 2007).
For a copy of the report and more of the Institute's ongoing coverage of the crisis in the Gulf, visit: www.southernstudies.org/gulfwatch
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chris Kromm, 919-419-8311 x26, chris@southernstudies.org
Sue Sturgis, 919-419-8311 x25, sue@southernstudies.org
Congressional Action Needed to Jump-Start Gulf Recovery
New report from watchdog group documents ongoing Katrina crisis, practical solutions for Washington
DURHAM, N.C. - On the 18-month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf Coast is still in crisis -- and bold action from Congress is needed now to get the region's recovery back on track, according to a new report by a nonprofit research group following the post-Katrina recovery
Drawing on statistical indicators and interviews with dozens of Gulf leaders and policy experts, the study by the Institute for Southern Studies documents "fundamental barriers" that are holding back the region's recovery, from a dearth of affordable housing to overburdened schools and a crippled health care system.
The 14-page report -- A New Agenda for the Gulf Coast -- also inventories over 30 practical policy steps that Congress and the President can quickly act on to help the region.
"Half the people of New Orleans weren't home last week to celebrate Mardi Gras because they still can't find good housing, jobs and schools," said Chris Kromm, executive director of the non-partisan Institute. "Washington can and must do better -- only national leadership can turn things around."
Although state and local leadership is critical, the report reveals that many areas of the Gulf recovery still hinge on federal policy. For example:
* A lack of affordable housing is still a major problem; over 100,000 are still living in FEMA trailers or receiving housing aid. Congress can quickly help Gulf residents get back into homes by speeding up compensation to homeowners; extending aid to renters; cracking down on insurance companies that denied coverage; and reversing HUD's decision to raze 5,000 barely-damaged public housing units in New Orleans.
* Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast's health care system, especially for the most vulnerable, and plans to use a Medicaid waiver and Medicare pilot project have been delayed. Washington can help by re-starting these efforts; linking displaced patients with care; and injecting resources into community-based clinics.
* The region's economy is still hobbling and good jobs are scarce, yet efforts like the Bush Administration's "Gulf Opportunity Zones" have been scattershot and ineffective. Attaching accountability standards to federal subsidies, as well as launching a Gulf Civic Works Program to hire 100,000 displaced people to rebuild, would boost the region's revivial.
* The 2007 hurricane season is less than four months away, but the Gulf's storm defenses are still woefully inadequate; three scientific studies have blasted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' levee plans. Gulf advocates are calling for prompt building of levees that can withstand a Category 5 hurricane, and for Congress to create a commission to investigate levee failures and cancel wasteful projects like the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.
President Bush and Congressional leaders claim that over $100 billion has been spent on Katrina recovery, but the report notes that this spending has been undermined by "missteps, delays and general lack of creative vision." Money has often bypassed those in need; for example, rebuilding contracts worth over $8 billion -- many given to politically connected firms without open bidding -- are under investigation for fraud and abuse.
But Katrina is still a national problem that demands national solutions, the report concludes. In many cases, the "next steps" are clear: "All that is needed is for federal policy-makers to live up to their promises and responsibility to help the Gulf coast and its people rebuild."
"The United States has overcome enormous domestic challenges before," says report co-author Sue Sturgis. "Though the crisis in the Gulf is among the most difficult, we remain convinced that it can be solved with the caring and good will of the American people, and renewed leadership in Washington."
Founded in 1970, the Durham-based Institute for Southern Studies has been tracking the post-Katrina Gulf Coast since October 2005, when it launched Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch (southernstudies.org/gulfwatch). Gulf Watch has produced several widely-acclaimed reports on post-Katrina New Orleans and Mississippi, including "The Mardi Gras Index" (Feb. 2006) and "One Year after Katrina" (Aug 2007).
For a copy of the report and more of the Institute's ongoing coverage of the crisis in the Gulf, visit: www.southernstudies.org/gulfwatch
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Chris Kromm
Chris Kromm is executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies and publisher of the Institute's online magazine, Facing South.