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AFSCME's Position – Hurricane Katrina Relief

Background

Our thoughts and prayers are with the millions of Americans in the Gulf Coast region who have lost their loved ones, homes and livelihoods due to the devastation of hurricane Katrina. It may take months or even years for communities and local economies in the region to recover from this devastating storm. The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is already a part of the robust relief effort and our members have opened their hearts and homes to the victims of Katrina and are contributing heavily to relief efforts.

Sadly, in many ways what occurred is not just a natural disaster but it has been a national disaster brought about by a failure to provide adequate funding for vital government services, which has been made worse by pursuit of a wrong set of priorities that have focused on defunding government and on allowing our national infrastructure to deteriorate. Matters have been made worse by the growing pressure to cut vital government services in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, the cornerstone of the Bush administration.

Summary of legislation

Congress has already approved substantial emergency relief of more than $60 billion that has provided immediate basic relief to the victims of the hurricane. This has included assistance for food, shelter, health care, subsistence and immediate relief efforts. Additional assistance is expected to be provided in the coming days for the next phase of the relief effort, which including clean-up, restoring economic vitality to the region and job creation, as well as rebuilding of the region's damaged infrastructure. A new package of extensive tax cuts to individuals and corporations has already been introduced along with several extensive relief packages, which include things like loan forgiveness, extended unemployment benefits, education assistance, and access to health care services. Congress is also debating the appropriate extent and level of the relief provided and how best to monitor the extensive relief efforts. In addition, Congress is expected to examine the effectiveness of the response to the disaster.

AFSCME position

As we as a nation struggle with a multitude of issues in the aftermath of this devastating tragedy, AFSCME believes the following issues must be addressed as part of the intended solution:

Need for strong unified governmental response

Hurricane Katrina underscores why it is necessary to have a strong, accountable Federal government so that in times of crisis we can have a unified, coordinated and effective response with strong leadership. But, we call on Congress to go beyond investigation and recommendations for fixes to the Gulf Coast disaster, now is the time to move beyond ideology and realign our national priorities. True leadership requires actions.

AFSCME believes it is time to enact responsible policies and funding to support the safety and productivity of all Americans, not just in the aftermath of this storm, but over the long haul, no matter their race or status. Congress also must provide immediate Federal financial assistance to those states and communities that have opened their doors to Katrina evacuees.

• State and local governments are being stretched thin coordinating this relief effort, as are government social services agencies that are being called upon to help this desperate population. Local and state governments need a substantial infusion of Federal funds so that they can perform the enormous tasks of rebuilding infrastructure, providing social services and health care to hundreds of thousands and creating jobs for the displaced. We must ensure that the evacuees' basic needs are being met in the locations where they now reside. State and local governments will need adequate resources to ensure that no one goes without shelter, food, medical care, clothing, education, and cash assistance.
  
  
• Investments must be increased in government's first responders and infrastructure in order to build a stronger national capacity to respond to and address future crises by making improvements in levee systems, roadways and waterways, telecommunications, etc.
  
  
• Preferences should be provided for affected residents & businesses in post-disaster clean up and rebuilding at prevailing wage.
  
  

Prevent further harm

Congress should immediately and permanently rescind its plans to make further drastic cuts in vital domestic services, most notably to the Medicaid program, which are the very same governmental services and programs that are so badly needed by the victims of the disaster. Congress should also suspend its plans for further tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the wealthy and increase the growing federal deficit.

AFSCME believes that efforts to pass legislation to permanently repeal the estate tax for the wealthiest individuals in our society as well as efforts to pass additional new tax cuts for the wealthy and deep spending cuts in vital domestic services like Medicaid, Food Stamps, housing and education assistance that are part of the already agreed to reconciliation process in Congress should be scrapped. Instead of cutting taxes and services, Congress should repeal significant parts of the earlier Bush tax cuts and increase funding for public services delivered at the state and local level.

Reduce concentration of poverty

Underlying all the Gulf Coast devastation is a shocking injustice that must be addressed: a disproportionate number of poor and people of color were affected, reflecting broader and persistent societal inequities. The issue is not new, it has just been ignored. Unfortunately, we have been losing ground on this front for years and arguable the policies of the Administration have made matters worse. New Orleans is just one of many local jurisdictions with a large number of poor, minority and working class individuals that live paycheck to paycheck and depend heavily on vital public service programs that the Bush Administration has sought to cut or eliminate.

AFSCME believes that the tragic events in the Gulf Coast are a reminder that these communities need targeted economic development programs combined with additional education, training, and child care to create living wage jobs with good health and pension benefits.

Poor governmental response should be investigated

AFSCME is concerned about the government's untimely and inadequate response. As a result it has failed the affected residents and some would argue that in some ways it has been a purposeful effort to further undermine people's confidence in government. Determining what went wrong in New Orleans and other areas of the Gulf surely will be complex; a veritable labyrinth of local, state and federal actions — or inactions — is in play. As the flood waters recedes and assistance accelerates in aiding the people affected by Hurricane Katrina, Congress is beginning to look at what went so terribly wrong in responding to the crisis. That process must be independent of politics, as was the 9/11 Commission and it must be open and accountable.

AFSCME believes the American people deserve a complete, thorough and independent investigation of the government's disaster response and a blue ribbon commission should be charged with determining the need for new investments to prevent future crises and strengthen future responses.

What you can do

Call your Senators and Representatives and first and foremost, tell them you oppose any additional tax cuts for the wealthy along with cuts in vital spending like education and Medicaid that Congress wants to pass as part of the budget process. It is outrageous to now make cuts in the very benefits and services most in need. In addition, tell them you support a strong unified government response to the Hurricane along with adequate resources to state and local governments to respond to the needs of the victims, a thorough and independent investigation of the government's response, and an examination of effective efforts to ameliorate the concentration of poverty that exists in the gulf region and other parts of the nation.

Department of Legislation
September 2005

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