Project Katrina

On Friday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) announced that he would reject nearly $100 million in unemployment insurance funding from the federal government. In doing so, Jindal ensured that at least 25,000 unemployed Lousiana residents would not be eligible for unemployment insurance. In response, Louisiana’s Lt. Gov., Mitch Landrieu (D), said that “Jindal needs to choose whether to represent the state of Louisiana or be the spokesman for the national Republican Party“:

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said in a telephone conference call that Jindal needs to choose whether to represent the state of Louisiana or be the spokesman for the national Republican Party. … “Those interests don’t always line up,” Landrieu said. “It puts the governor at risk of sending mixed messages. Louisiana should be very aggressive in going to get this money.”

[….]

Jindal on Friday refused to accept $98.4 million, calling the money an incentive to expand the numbers of unemployed people who could receive benefits in way that eventually would require the state to raise taxes for businesses and employers.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) responded to new of Jindal’s decision by quipping, “You just tell them that anyone that doesn’t want to take the money: I’m ready to take their money and rebuild California.” Gov. Jennifer Ganholm (D-MI) made similar remarks in reference to the possibility of Govs. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) and Mark Sanford (R-SC) following Jindal’s lead.

Well it would appear this is the start of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Saying that it could lead to a tax increase on state businesses, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Friday that the state plans to reject as much as $98 million in federal unemployment assistance in the economic stimulus package.

Jindal, who has emerged as a leading Republican critic of the $787 billion spending and tax-cut bill signed into law this week by President Barack Obama, said the state would accept federal dollars for transportation projects and would not quarrel with a $25-per-week increase in unemployment benefits.

Both of those items are financed entirely with federal dollars and require the state only to accept the money. The part that Jindal rejected would require permanent changes in state law that the governor said makes it unacceptable. [...]

But U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., disputed the governor’s interpretation and said the new unemployment benefits are designed to be temporary. “This bill is an emergency measure designed to provide extra help during these extraordinarily tough times,” Landrieu said. “To characterize this provision as a ‘tax increase on Louisiana businesses’ is inaccurate.”

I’ve read multiple stories on this topics and the best I can tel is that Jindal’s position is he’d rather limit unemployed assistance now than worry about a possible tax increase on businesses three years from now.

Via MSNBC, some good news for thousands and thousands of families:

The federal government is providing six more months of rental assistance to give thousands of families affected by the 2005 hurricanes extra time to reach self-sufficiency or to get into other housing aid programs.

About 31,400 families have continued receiving federal help paying rent as part of a disaster housing program that was set to expire March 1.

Congress appropriated $85 million in vouchers for those who would still need federal aid after the program ended. But U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Friday the Bush administration had begun moving a “very small share” of households — primarily, the elderly and the disabled — to the voucher program before leaving office and that no contact had been made with a large number of families when Donovan arrived at HUD several weeks ago.

When President Obama signed the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act last week, it included three different provisions to benefit unemployed workers. The first provided funding to states that allowed for a $25 per week increase in benefits. The second extended the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program which gives 20 weeks of federally-funded unemployment benefits to individuals “who had already collected all regular state benefits,” while the third provision widened the pool of people eligible to receive unemployment benefits.

Today, however, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced his intention to oppose changing state law to allow his Louisiana citizens to qualify for the second two unemployment provisions. Jindal said the state would only be accepting money to increase the unemployment insurance payments for those who currently qualify for unemployment insurance.

In all, Jindal turned away nearly $100 million in federal aid for his state’s unemployed residents. Further, as the National Employment Law Project projected on Febuary 13, EUC extension alone would have benefited 24,981 Louisiana residents. Jindal justified his decision by claiming that expanding unemployment benefits would result in tax increases for businesses. In a press release, the governor’s office explained:

The Governor said the state will not use a portion of the stimulus package that requires the state to change its law to expand unemployment insurance (UI) coverage to qualify for up to $32.8 million of the federal stimulus funding because it ultimately would result in a tax increase on Louisiana businesses.

But it is not clear why participating in the expanded unemployment insurance program would result in tax increases for business. By Jindal’s own estimate, the recovery package would have funded his state’s unemployment expansion for three years, at which point the state could—if it chose to do so—phase out the program.

As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin suggested earlier today, perhaps Jindal’s presidential ambitions are “clouding” his judgement. “I think he’s been tapped as the up-and-coming Republican to petition a run for president the next time it goes around. So he has a certain vernacular, and a certain way he needs to talk right now,” Nagin said.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release February 20, 2009

Obama Extends Gulf Coast Rebuilding Office; Sends Cabinet Members to Gulf Coast and New Orleans

Washington, D.C. – President Barack Obama Friday signed an executive order extending the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding. The President also announced that he has asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan to tour the Gulf Coast and New Orleans in early March.

The executive order that established the office was set to expire on February 28. President Obama extended the office through the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2009.

“The residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast who are helping rebuild are heroes who believe in their communities and they are succeeding despite the fact that they have not always received the support they deserve from the Federal government,” President Obama said. “This executive order is a first step of a sustained commitment by my Administration to rebuild now, stronger than ever.”

Demonstrating the Obama Administration’s commitment to rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the President also announced that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan would tour the Gulf Coast on March 5 and 6 to assess rebuilding efforts.

“In the coming weeks, I will dispatch Secretaries Napolitano and Donovan to see first-hand the progress made in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and report back on the needs they see in the region. We must ensure that the failures of the past are never repeated. My Administration is committed to strengthening our preparedness, response, and recovery efforts,” President Obama said.

The mission of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding is to identify and help address the priority needs for long-term rebuilding by working with the people on the ground and with decision makers in Washington.

From today’s Times-Picayune:

The giant economic stimulus bill signed into law this week by President Barack Obama will provide $3.8 billion in financing and tax cuts for Louisiana, but none of it is earmarked specifically for hurricane recovery.

Louisiana officials, who were sharply critical of what they considered a lack of financial support for hurricane recovery from President George W. Bush, are holding their fire on the new president, whose administration put together much of the stimulus package.

“We’re not playing nice; the new administration is playing smart,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who praised the administration for supporting language in the stimulus bill that will expedite the arbitration process to free $1.4 billion in hurricane recovery money stalled for years because of disputes between FEMA and local governments.

Not good news, but I hear more news will be forthcoming from the White House later today on more direct aid to New Orleans.

Before the storm hit and the floodwaters took over, Kimberly Rivers Roberts pulled out her new video camera. Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband, Scott, sit outside their flood-damaged Ninth Ward home.

Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband, Scott, sit outside their flood-damaged Ninth
The aspiring rapper and her husband, Scott, were among those trapped in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana, in late August 2005 as Hurricane Katrina raged toward them.

The couple, who’ve described themselves as street hustlers, compiled amateur footage that captured the horrors experienced in their community and among their neighbors. From the middle of rising waters in attics where people waited to the struggles to find help from and for others, they documented what outsiders couldn’t see.

About 1,300 miles away, in Brooklyn, New York, documentary filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal sat glued to their televisions.

“After a few days of seeing people stranded on roofs, we had to do something,” said Lessin, who with Deal had previously worked with Michael Moore.

Louisiana faces an estimated $2 billion budget shortfall next year while the state is being hit hard by unemployment. Yet Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), rumored to be a future presidential candidate, said last weekend that he may turn down the roughly $3.8 billion for the state in the economy recovery package, which is expected to create more than 50,000 jobs:

We’ll have to review each program, each new dollar to make sure that we understand what are the conditions, what are the strings and see whether it’s beneficial for Louisiana to use those dollars,” Jindal said.

Jindal seems to be taking an even harder line than his colleagues Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), who while opposing the stimulus legislation, has said he will take the money. It may be important to note at this point that Jindal is scheduled to give the offical GOP response to President Obama’s address next Tuesday.