New Orleans Mayor Nagin expressed his appreciation for the passing of the Housing Act that is expected to assist New Orleans and Louisiana particularly after Katrina and Rita. Here is his statment:
"We would like to thank Congress for passing HR 3221, the "American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008." We are grateful to the House and Senate Democratic leadership for their tireless work in negotiating with the Administration, the Republican minority and their own Democratic members on this complicated piece of legislation whose main purpose is to intervene in the critical and growing housing and financial crisis in our country. This legislation also has a particularly positive impact worth $1.3 billion to New Orleans and Louisiana citizens because it fixes a tax problem that made Road Home grants taxable for those who took casualty loss deductions for their damaged homes in 2005, and it extends the deadlines for GO Zone projects to start construction. We are sorry that the final bill did not include using more of the funding generated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac profits for affordable housing in the Gulf Coast communities affected by the hurricanes of 2005; however our state will benefit with an estimated $95 million from a grant program for local governments to purchase and renovate foreclosed homes that would otherwise become a blight in their communities. We appreciate the work of Senator Landrieu and those Louisiana delegation members who made sure this legislation had important provisions for the recovery of our state and region from the catastrophic damages of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
We also look forward to working with the Louisiana delegation and key Congressional leaders on enactment of additional post-Katrina relief, including expanding federal support for 100 year flood protection, resources for critical sewer and water infrastructure and the extension of historic tax credits for GO Zone projects when the Congress returns in September."
