Bobby Jindal's Task
Louisiana's governor-elect must jump-start the post-Katrina recovery.

Monday, November 5, 2007

WHILE VISITING a charred Southern California on Oct. 25, President Bush promised the victims of the wildfires that "we're not going to forget you in Washington, D.C. . . . there's a better day ahead." But the California victims need look only to the hobbled rebuilding efforts in New Orleans to see the yawning gap between Mr. Bush's fine-sounding words and the actions that have followed.

In a speech from Jackson Square in New Orleans two weeks after the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina breached the federally designed and constructed levees, Mr. Bush said, "We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives. And all who question the future of the Crescent City need to know there is no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again." Yet two years later New Orleans and Louisiana continue to plead with Mr. Bush to make good on his word. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) has made eight trips to Washington to make sure both are not forgotten.

While her leadership was weak during Katrina, Ms. Blanco has been tenacious in her efforts to get Louisiana and New Orleans back on their feet. Now that task falls to Rep. Bobby Jindal (R), who was elected last month to replace her in Baton Rouge. Mr. Jindal won the governorship with 54 percent of the vote against 11 opponents, allowing the Rhodes Scholar and son of Indian immigrants to avoid a runoff and giving him a mandate for change. Among his first priorities after taking office in January is ethics reform. We wish him well. Many have tried and failed.

Where Mr. Jindal must not fail is in persuading Congress and the White House to do right by Louisiana. State and federal officials must come to an agreement on how to fill the $3.3 billion shortfall in the Road Home program. Initial federal estimates of how many homes were damaged and therefore how many would be eligible for the home rebuilding fund were too low, and the initial outlay of funding was too little. Numerous rule changes imposed by Washington and implemented by Baton Rouge hampered Road Home's ability to disburse funds quickly.

The cash crunch isn't the only thing slowing the recovery. Red tape is preventing Louisiana from drawing on $1.17 billion in appropriated money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that would go toward elevating houses and preventing floods.

The state has committed $1 billion to plug the hole. But if the federal government does not also help, other rebuilding efforts, most notably those of New Orleans, will sputter. Louisiana is the nation's energy hub, ranking first in crude oil production and second in natural gas production. The Port of New Orleans is a major import-export route, with global merchandise exports totaling $23.5 billion in 2006. The state shouldn't have to keep begging Washington to help it rise from the most damaging natural disaster in U.S. history.