PRESS RELEASE

Governor Jindal Sends Letter to White House Requesting Recovery Assistance
Baton Rouge (September 6, 2008) – Today, Governor Jindal sent a letter to President Bush, following up on their meeting earlier in the week during his visit to Baton Rouge, requesting specific items from the federal government to assist the state's recovery from Hurricane Gustav.

September 6, 2008

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

In Re: Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief Funds and Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Resources

Mr. President:

Thank you for making Louisiana’s response and recovery to Hurricane Gustav a priority.  Your presence here earlier this week demonstrated your commitment to Louisiana.  Not only do we recognize and welcome your support, but under your leadership, our federal partners have been extremely helpful. 

In our meeting, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis mentioned there were several key issues that warrant your immediate attention. 

First, in 2005, the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development worked closely with the US Department of Transportation in acquiring necessary funds and assistance in reconstituting the transportation system in Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Hurricane Gustav has again placed us in the spotlight of the nation as we recover from this most recent disaster.  We need your leadership as well as the assistance of Secretary Peters to address two key issues in providing emergency relief funding. 

1. Federal law limits FHWA Emergency Relief funding to $100 million per state for each natural disaster or catastrophic failure event.  Our initial estimate of damage repair costs for federal-aid highways in Louisiana from Hurricane Gustav will exceed $160 million. A Presidential waiver of the $100 million limit on FHWA Emergency Relief funding is critical to the recovery effort.  This was done for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
2. Each year, the Federal Highway Transportation bill approved by Congress contains $100 million in Emergency Relief Funds.  The high cost of construction and repair for highways and bridges, and the number of natural disasters across the nation this year far exceed that $100 million limit.  Consequently, Louisiana will have to get in line with the rest of the states and may not see full reimbursement for years. To that end, I request your strong support of a special appropriation by Congress from the General Fund to the FHWA Emergency Relief Fund, specifically for Louisiana.  During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, you and Congress cleared the backlog, but now Emergency Relief Fund requests already exceed the annual appropriation.

Second, as The Louisiana Sheriff Association mentioned during our meeting, in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, the state of Louisiana is in desperate need of law enforcement and criminal justice resources.  We must be able to protect persons and property before any recovery can begin.  We are requesting $100 million through the Emergency Law Enforcement Assistance Program of the 1984 Justice Assistance Act, P.L. 98-473.  It is our understanding that funding for this request can be obtained through a transfer of funds from FEMA to the United States Department of Justice through the Bureau of Justice Assistance.  In order to facilitate the distribution and accountability of the funding, we are requesting that it be channeled from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, which is our designated state administrating agency.

We have begun the process of recovery and look forward to visiting with you in the near future to discuss in more detail the damage we experienced and our plan to bring Louisiana back.  During your visit earlier this week, you saw the state’s commitment to meeting the needs of our citizens and I look forward to inviting you back to Louisiana to see the great work we accomplished.

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