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(PDF Version) Louisiana is poised to receive and spend billions of dollars for coastal protection and restoration over the next decade and beyond. These funds come from a variety of sources. Louisiana has a duty to demonstrate to its funding authorities as well as its citizens that coastal dollars are being well spent and the […]
As Louisiana is poised to spend some of its BP oil spill settlement on the state operating budget, now is a good time to evaluate the appropriate use of the various new revenue sources the state is receiving related to coastal damages and offshore drilling. The state’s actions could affect future resources available to Louisiana […]
(PDF Version) The Jindal administration is planning to address the latest mid-year state budget crisis with several potential solutions, at least two of which should be reconsidered. One is a raid on the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund, a move that would sweep scarce and specially designated dollars for coastal protection and restoration into […]
Sweeping dedicated coastal dollars into the general operating budget would break a strong precedent and raise costly questions about Louisiana’s coastal spending stewardship (PDF Version) The administration would be making a mistake to take money from the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund to spend on state operating expenses. In fact this is the exact kind […]
PAR evaluates revenue enhancements and calls for proper use of Coastal Fund. (PDF Version Here) The Jindal administration’s proposed state budget for the next fiscal year is commendable in several important respects but contains some techniques for short-term revenue enhancements that are not in the state’s best interest in the long term. For those – […]
2008 was supposed to be the “year of bricks and mortar” for recovery efforts in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as one local official described it. From Cameron, Louisiana, to Bayou La Batre, Alabama, officials talked of finally gaining some much-needed traction for rebuilding.
Nearly three years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast region, recovery progress is evident. So are irrevocable change and the reminder that significant problems remain for those communities hit hardest by the storms. Local officials who once talked optimistically of rapid rebuilding and recovery now talk in terms of 10-year time frames.
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