Recovery Funding

Louisiana and its people have faced unprecedented distruction in the wake of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike. Hurricane Katrina itself was the country's most expensive natural disaster. Obviously, rebuilding in the wake of these catastrophic events has been extremely difficult and monumentally expensive.

However, it is essential that a full recovery continue to be funded by the federal government. At the same time, it is also essential that systems and structure be put in place to ensure that strict accountabilities are in place related to the spending of federal resources to rebuild Louisiana.

To date, very little definitive documentation has been made public relative to the specific allocations and associated uses of funds targeted for human recovery efforts in Louisiana in the wake of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike. With this lack of transparency and accountability, it is extremely likely that some of these recovery funds have been spent without any discernable positive impact on our citizens. It is also likely that some of these allocated funds remain tucked away in state and local government coffers and have yet to be spent on programs, projects, or other initiatives that can bring relief to those struggling to rebuild their lives.

The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps will seek to make public the amount of taxpayers’ money that has been allocated to Louisiana for recovery aid since 2005, along with the source of those recovery and individual assistance funds received from FEMA. It will do so by advocating for a comprehensive recovery accountability system called Taxpayers for an Accountable Human Recovery. This system will have similar goals as the federal system devised to track funds allocated via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the federal stimulus package. Specific goals for the Taxpayers for an Accountable Recovery system will be to demonstrate to Louisiana citizens how many recovery-related dollars have been allocated to the state, show how, when, and where the money has been spent, provide data that allows Louisianians to evaluate progress and impacts associated with those funds, and allow our citizens to provide feedback relative to usage of the funds.

Once all dollars have been accounted for and tracked, a determination should be made relative to impacts of the funds and whether or not specific usages have had the desired impact on citizens. If there are funds that have not yet been spent toward recovery efforts, the Recovery Corps will seek to determine where those funds are located and advocate for the immediate spending of those dollars in a fashion that will provide a direct positive impact on Louisiana residents.

Finally, an improved system should be designed, in partnership with the federal government, to minimize the barriers that restrict the efficient and swift disbursal and use of recovery and individual assistance funds. Burdensome strings that reduce flexibility relative to how recovery funds can be used in solving specific disaster issues must be removed; however, strict accountabilities must also be incorporated into the use of federal funds allocated to the state, with detailed reports presented from all who receive and spend recovery funds. Those reports should specifically list outcomes and the effects those funds had on Louisiana citizens in need.