Our Views: A big break, lousy timing
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President Bush has done Louisiana a service, to the tune of millions, in his decision to give the state more time to meet its share of the cost of levee improvements.
What is a shame is that the decision came so late, and involved backtracking from the White House position on the cost-share issue that it could have solved much earlier.
Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state’s delegation in Congress pushed for the additional levee money but asked — very reasonably, in light of many earlier precedents for work in other states — that the state be allowed to pay its share of the costs over a 30-year period.
As Jindal noted, paying up front all the state’s share of the levee improvements would have cost the state about $1 billion in a three-year span. Even with oil revenue being what it is, that would have been a huge bill.
During the debate in Congress, senators agreed to the long-term payment. But the White House pushed back in the House and the same provision was not put in the final version of the legislation.
Fortunately, Bush has the power to extend the payments. Unfortunately, he did not do so until almost the eve of his visit to New Orleans and Mississippi just before the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.
The Republican governor and leading Democrats, such as U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., praised the decision to stretch out the payments, but we agree with Landrieu’s quip: “Finally!”
This very bad timing gave the impression that had a New Orleans photo opportunity not been on the schedule, the governor and Legislature might well have been looking at writing a large check to the federal government.
The experience of Hurricane Gustav underlines the urgency of repairing the metropolitan area’s levee system quickly. While the latest hurricane struck the city only a glancing blow, it could have been much worse.
Any unduly onerous cost-sharing arrangement has the potential to slow needed work.
We’re glad Bush has given Louisiana a break on the cost-share for improvement of the levees to this point. And perhaps every White House is full of politics. But this White House manages to look ultrapolitical even when it does the right thing.
What is a shame is that the decision came so late, and involved backtracking from the White House position on the cost-share issue that it could have solved much earlier.
Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state’s delegation in Congress pushed for the additional levee money but asked — very reasonably, in light of many earlier precedents for work in other states — that the state be allowed to pay its share of the costs over a 30-year period.
As Jindal noted, paying up front all the state’s share of the levee improvements would have cost the state about $1 billion in a three-year span. Even with oil revenue being what it is, that would have been a huge bill.
During the debate in Congress, senators agreed to the long-term payment. But the White House pushed back in the House and the same provision was not put in the final version of the legislation.
Fortunately, Bush has the power to extend the payments. Unfortunately, he did not do so until almost the eve of his visit to New Orleans and Mississippi just before the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.
The Republican governor and leading Democrats, such as U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., praised the decision to stretch out the payments, but we agree with Landrieu’s quip: “Finally!”
This very bad timing gave the impression that had a New Orleans photo opportunity not been on the schedule, the governor and Legislature might well have been looking at writing a large check to the federal government.
The experience of Hurricane Gustav underlines the urgency of repairing the metropolitan area’s levee system quickly. While the latest hurricane struck the city only a glancing blow, it could have been much worse.
Any unduly onerous cost-sharing arrangement has the potential to slow needed work.
We’re glad Bush has given Louisiana a break on the cost-share for improvement of the levees to this point. And perhaps every White House is full of politics. But this White House manages to look ultrapolitical even when it does the right thing.
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