Letter to Barack H. Obama, President of the United States
Letter
Letter to Barack H. Obama, President of the United States
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
RE: Community Disaster Loan Forgiveness
Dear Mr. President:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita left Louisiana's most severely-affected parishes and municipal governments with very little or no local tax revenue for the foreseeable future. Typically, local tax revenue generated on a monthly basis is used to pay parish employees and keep local governments operating. In response to these storms, Congress passed legislation to allow for Community Disaster Loans (CDLs) to support the most severely-affected parish governments and other public organizations that otherwise would have had to layoff their employees and, in some cases, shut down operations entirely.
Congress further amended that legislation in 2007 to allow the President to forgive these loans. In 2007 and 2008, the Louisiana delegation worked with the Bush Administration on implementing regulations to allow for CDL forgiveness. However, FEMA has yet to establish these regulations despite their continued assurance to the Louisiana delegation that the regulations are being drafted. It has been almost two years since Congress passed this authorization and it is imperative that these regulations be finalized as quickly as possible.
School boards, fire districts, sheriffs' offices, hospitals, and other local government entities along the Gulf Coast relied on these CDLs to sustain municipal operations, and they face large debts and struggle with their recovery as a result. As they continue to move forward with their recovery efforts, they must have the ability to apply for loan forgiveness under the CDL program and be able to remove that debt from their books. The absence of a regulatory structure has left these communities and organizations without any guidance to prepare them for independent audits and has restricted their ability to conduct out-year budget planning.
We have made significant progress since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but the uncertainty and delay associated with this program has caused major problems for local government entities. We urge you to expedite this process and make it a priority of the agency to issue these regulations as soon as possible. The future of our communities depends on it.
We are willing to help in any way possible and would appreciate your support and prompt consideration to this matter.
Sincerely,
Sen. David Vitter
Rep. Steve Scalise
Rep. Ahn "Joseph" Cao
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