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Hurricane Katrina

Rebuilding Gulf Coast in their image

The destruction in New Orleans gives activists a clean slate to push for fewer regulations during rebuilding.

By WES ALLISON
Published October 1, 2005

WASHINGTON - In the dismal wreck that is now New Orleans, where neighborhoods are oily swamps and the pinnings of modern society - schools, roads, an economy - have been crushed by wind and wave, conservatives in Washington see a clean slate.

Hurricane Katrina has provided a rare chance to remake the region in the image of their own ideals, conservative scholars and legislators say, a working laboratory where regulation falls to "common sense," where the free market reigns, and where the government offers "incentives," not "red tape."

"Across the board, conservatives believe that if we're going to fund the entire recovery of New Orleans, this is an opportunity to do urban renewal in a common-sense way," said Rep. Tom Feeney, an Orlando-area Republican and leading House conservative.

"We'll be pushing conservative ideas in a city that has been beleaguered by big government liberalism, corruption and a large amount of systemic poverty."

Already, the Bush administration has made several changes that are popular with the right, and the Republican-led Congress is considering more. Among them:

--At the urging of Feeney and other House Republicans, President Bush suspended the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act, which requires government contractors to pay prevailing wages. The suspension covers South Florida and the Gulf Coast and allows contractors to pay construction and cleanup crews less than the going rate, which Feeney calculates will save taxpayers up to $15-billion.

--The president has earmarked $488-million for vouchers that displaced students can use for private or parochial schools, the nation's largest experiment with what conservatives call "school choice."

--The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this week it would reimburse churches for aid they provided storm victims, as many conservatives in Congress had advocated.

--And the Environmental Protection Agency wants legislation that will suspend parts of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act during an emergency, allowing factories and other businesses to exceed state and federal pollution limits, lawmakers say.

A bill granting that power has been introduced in the Senate.

Rep. Jim Davis, a Democrat from Tampa who is running for governor, said Republicans should improve oversight of the no-bid, open-ended contracts the administration is issuing on the Gulf Coast, rather than use the storm as an excuse to push their agenda.

"You don't see homeless people in Mississippi and New Orleans saying, "Please waive the Clean Water Act,"' Davis said. "You don't see people there saying, "Please waive the Davis-Bacon Act."'

This week, Republicans plan to introduce legislation to ease permitting requirements for oil refineries, so those hit by Katrina could more easily add capacity as they rebuild. Some lawmakers and industry groups also say the damage to Louisiana's oil industry is a good reason to allow drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile, Katrina has added impetus to an ongoing effort by Republicans in the House to relax the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews and public comment for major projects. Many conservatives say the act is onerous and will hinder reconstruction.

"Why not use this tragedy as a way to have some regulatory review?" said Sen. George Allen, a Republican from Virginia who is popular with conservative activists. "If this works, and it gets more investment in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi ... people will say, "Gosh, why do you have to have a hurricane to do this?"'

None of these ideas is new, and many have been tested already - Florida has school vouchers, the Bush administration has relaxed pollution standards for some power plants, and the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives has given more than $3-billion to religious groups since the president took office.

But in the region Bush has designated as the Gulf Opportunity Zone, where entire towns, roads and water systems are in shambles, conservatives say they have a rare chance to implement many ideas all at once, in a way that could take hold.

"Katrina has been a good opportunity for us to push the same principles we've been fighting for," said Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan. "If they work well, we'll try to apply them nationwide. If they don't, we'll move on to something that does."

Almost as soon as the extent of damage from Hurricane Katrina became known, conservative scholars and lawmakers say they began coordinating to ensure that easing regulations and new tax incentives would be part of the comprehensive recovery plan.

"Normally, it's hard to put reforms in place when you have an existing structure," said Mike Franc, vice president of government relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "We don't have that now. This is a unique opportunity to give New Orleans and the Gulf Coast a better shake of it."

Until recently, the Democratic response has been muted, partly because its leaders have focused on other things, such as pushing for accountability for the $62-billion being spent on the Gulf Coast.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Democrats initially didn't want to delay aid, but they've begun taking a tougher look at Republican proposals. He plans to offer an amendment to ban the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act, and the House is considering a similar bill.

Democrats say it takes advantage of high unemployment in the wake of the storm, which has cost at least 200,000 jobs.

"The administration is doing things for the conservative cause even if it makes life more miserable for the people who were ... victims," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

Aside from Democratic opposition, conservatives also must overcome inertia. Political entrepreneurialism - using a crisis to change policy - typically leads to more regulation, not less, said Peter Van Doren, editor of Regulation, a quarterly journal published by the libertarian Cato Institute.

Consider the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which increased financial reporting requirements after Enron's collapse and other corporate scandals, or the passage of the Patriot Act after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Conservatives are moving fast, but the bureaucracy is moving, too. Already, some are expressing dismay with early tales of the reconstruction. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., was incensed by FEMA's plans to spend $5-billion on 300,000 housing trailers for those made homeless by the storm, then set them up in giant parks.

The money should go for housing vouchers to be spent on the open market, in areas where schools, businesses and communities already exist, Flake said.

"I don't know how you apply any conservative principles when you start from that basis - people who are totally, utterly dependent on government," he said. "Why in the world didn't we say from the beginning, don't buy one trailer?"

[Last modified October 1, 2005, 01:46:16]