Press Statement on Hurricane Katrina Grant Program

[Keelan Sanders]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2007	CONTACT: KEELAN SANDERS Phone: (601) 969-2913 E-mail: kee...@msdemocrats.net
Wayne Dowdy statement on Hurricane Katrina grant program JACKSON (Tuesday, June 19, 2007) – Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Dowdy issued this statement following a news story in The Clarion-Ledger looking at expenses related to the Mississippi Homeowners Assistance Grant Program. “Every Mississippian – especially those on the Coast still trying hard to recover from Hurricane Katrina – should be appalled by the apparent questionable use of money that could have gone directly to people suffering from the worst natural disaster in our nation’s history. “Haley Barbour must be held responsible for this reprehensible action. As the state’s chief executive officer, he has direct control over the Mississippi Development Authority by appointing its executive director and, therefore, is responsible for the pathetic way the Homeowners Grant Program has been managed. “First Barbour and the MDA dragged their feet on the program, waiting until late 2006 and early 2007 before speeding up the award process. Then the MDA hired two state legislators – including one from the Mississippi Gulf Coast – to close the grants, enabling them to earn up to $1.2 million at the expense of people who have suffered so much. And now this. Unbelievable. “Haley Barbour loves to boast across the state about all the money he’s brought to Mississippi post-Katrina, about how we have a chance to rebuild the Coast as never before. But how can Haley boast when we hear reports about the pathetically managed Homeowners Grant program? And how can he boast when hundreds of people continue to live in FEMA trailers almost two years after the storm?” ### Mississippi Homeowner Grant Program Fact Sheet JACKSON (Tuesday, June 19, 2007) – Four months after Hurricane Katrina plowed through South Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana in August 2005, the U.S. Congress approved $5 billion in relief to help Mississippi in its recovery. One of the key components of the state’s recovery program was the Homeowners Assistance Grant Program. Since then, the $3 billion program has been fraught with problems – and the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of Republican Gov. Haley Barbour and his Republican allies. Let’s look at the issue closer: Congress approved $5 billion in Hurricane Katrina aid for Mississippi in December 2005 -- not long after the storm struck South Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana on Aug. 29. About $3 billion of the money was used for the Homeowners Assistance Grant Program, designed to financially help home owners who flooded because of Hurricane Katrina even though they lived outside the federal flood zone. Homeowners who qualified for the grant money could receive up to $150,000 to help them with their losses from the storm. The grant program is administered by the Mississippi Development Authority, the state’s chief economic development agency whose executive director is appointed by the governor. Barbour, therefore, has direct control over the agency. Democrats in the Mississippi House of Representatives supported legislative oversight of the grant program. But Barbour balked and staunchly opposed legislative oversight; House Bill 1318 died in the Senate. While Barbour and Republicans balked at oversight of the grant program, Barbour spent his time pushing for oversight of the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi. Something doesn’t sound right. This is another example of how Barbour says one thing but does something else, or, as our TV ad from earlier this year put it so succinctly, Haley is two-faced on important issues. Republican state Sen. Tommy Robertson of Moss Point and Republican state Rep. Jim Beckett of Bruce formed a company and won a $1.2 million bid from the state to “close” Katrina grants. They hired Republican state Rep. Jim Simpson of Gulfport to help with the work. Robertson chairs the Senate Finance Committee and single-handedly killed a bill this year to reduce the sales tax on groceries and raise the tax on cigarettes. Robertson did so at Barbour’s request. Barbour asked Robertson to kill the grocery tax-cigarette tax swap. Robertson received a $1.2 million state contract a year earlier from an agency Barbour controls. Is there a connection? Something doesn’t seem right. The state Ethics Commission in a split decision rejected a complaint filed against Robertson and company alleging that they violated state ethics laws by profiting off the Katrina grants. Robertson and Simpson are Coast residents who are profiting off the misfortune of fellow residents. As of Oct. 11, 2006, 1,300 checks had been written to Coast residents who applied for grants through the program. At that point, more than 17,000 people had applied. The MDA had been dragging its feet in awarding grants to storm victims; they speeded the process only after news stories began to appear in The Mississippi Press newspaper in Pascagoula. As of June 14, 2007, the MDA's Web site reports that 13,236 grants have been paid to 15,320 eligible applicants. # # #