La. Lawmakers to Debate Levees, Housing in Special Session

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Levee board consolidation, absentee voting changes and housing reconstruction are among the topics lawmakers can consider as they return to the Capitol Feb. 6 for a second legislative session aimed at Louisiana’s hurricane recovery.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco issued the formal agenda for the session that must end by Feb. 17. Lawmakers can only debate matters that fall under the governor’s special session agenda, which includes 41 topics.

Among the other items on the agenda are several insurance matters, the merging of New Orleans’ government offices and the creation in law of the governor’s hand picked recovery commission, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, whose power has rankled some legislators.

Lawmakers will take up the levee board reorganization, pushed as a way to strengthen Louisiana’s hurricane protection, for a second time. The House killed a similar idea in an earlier special session before Blanco decided to back the idea. Now, the governor is calling the reorganization her “centerpiece” legislation for the special session.

The current levee district boards, particularly the New Orleans board, are criticized as laden with political patronage and packed with appointees who have little knowledge of flood control or engineering. Opponents say a consolidated levee district could harm smaller coastal towns in favor of New Orleans’ protection.

The debate likely will continue to be heated, but is not the only contentious topic on the session agenda.

The shrinking of portions of New Orleans government – which has seven tax assessors, two court systems, two sheriffs and two clerks of court – already has provoked infighting and disagreement among New Orleans legislators. Some say it is too early to determine which positions should be merged, and others say Orleans Parish government is bloated and in need of paring down since many people may not return to the city after Katrina.