Louisiana Senate Delegation Introduces Legislation In Response to Katrina
Hurricane Recovery
Memo to Members: Vol 10, No. 37, September 23, 2005
On September 22, Louisiana Senators David Vitter (R) and Mary Landrieu (D) introduced S. 1765 and S. 1766, identical bills to address broad recovery efforts resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Section 301 of the bills, “Helping to House the Victims of Hurricane Katrina Act of 2005,” covers a variety of housing-related responses. The Louisiana House delegation will introduce similar legislation in a more piecemeal fashion in coordination with House leadership.
The bills authorize emergency assistance vouchers for individuals and families who lost their housing due to Katrina. The bills direct the HUD Secretary to issue rules for the new emergency vouchers within 30 days of enactment and directs the Secretary to waive certain voucher requirements, including those for tenant contributions toward rent, one year leases, and restrictions on portability. Funds are to be made available for rent, security and utility deposits, relocation expenses and additional expenses as determined by the Secretary. Voucher payment standards could be permitted to go as high as 150% of area median income (AMI). Landlords or owners would not be able to exclude households from renting solely because they were voucher holders. The bills authorize $3.5 billion for these emergency vouchers.
The bills also authorize an additional $50 billion for Katrina-related costs, some of which will go to CDBG, HOME and HOPE VI. The bills also authorizes up to $10 million per-project spending under the CDBG program. Waivers are part of the bill, including waiving rent and income requirements of the HOME program and suspend the matching requirements of the HOME program.
The bills further require the HUD Secretary to waive income and matching grant requirements for the Rural Housing and Economic Development program.
Finally, the bills authorize a home and business mortgage protection fund to reimburse financial institutions holding unpaid mortgages due to Katrina.
The bills are available at thomas.loc.gov and from www.nlihc.org/news/091305katrina.html.
