Few bills make it to president's desk

Lots of hurricane recovery bills have passed the House and Senate during the 110th Congress, but not many have made it to President Bush's desk for his signature or veto.

In some cases, the Katrina provisions were passed in one chamber but not the other. In others, they have passed both chambers but as part of different bills.

Here's a status report on some of the major items:

- Funding for levees: The Senate and House included nearly $6 billion for levee work in a pending emergency supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate went further than the House, including language to reduce the state's share of levee costs from $1.5 billion to $1.3 billion and allow 30 years instead of three to raise the necessary funds. Negotiations are expected to begin this week to resolve the two versions of the spending bill.

- Help for hospitals: The Senate, as part of its emergency supplemental spending bill, included $157 million for six New Orleans area hospitals to deal with increasing costs after Hurricane Katrina. The provision, added by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., didn't make it into the House-passed bill. Negotiations will follow.

- Other emergency help: The Senate included $75 million to accelerate the closing of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, $75 million for criminal justice needs along the Gulf Coast and $70 million for housing vouchers to help low-income workers find housing in the New Orleans area. None of the financing is in the House bill. Enactment depends on House-Senate negotiations and on how receptive Bush is to domestic add-ons to the Iraq and Afghanistan war spending bill.

- Wind coverage: The House approved a measure, part of a reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, to add wind coverage protection to help homeowners and businesses in coastal communities who can't find affordable coverage. But the measure was rejected by the Senate and final enactment seems unlikely. Even if the Senate goes along, the president has threatened a veto, arguing that the solution to the insurance shortage lies with private markets.

- Road Home tax relief: Both the House and Senate passed provisions to give Road Home grant recipients some breaks on tax liabilities. Both the House and Senate would allow those who took a tax deduction for hurricane losses in 2005 to amend their returns to eliminate the 2005 exemption. For many, losing the deduction is a better deal than paying taxes on their Road Home grants. But the House and Senate will have to pass the provision in the same bill in order for it to be signed into law. The administration has signaled its support.

- Road Home shortfall: Last November, the House and Senate included $3 billion to close a shortfall in the Louisiana Road Home program. The financing was added to a defense bill and signed into law.

- Morganza to the Gulf: The $900 million hurricane-protection project may need a specific congressional authorization to move forward, and those efforts continue. Sen. David Vitter, R-

La., offered an amendment to the recent emergency supplemental spending bill, but it didn't pass. The Morganza-to-

the-Gulf project is touted by supporters as the only way to protect portions of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, covering 130 square miles, from flooding.

- Housing: A bill to require HUD to develop a comprehensive housing disaster plan, authorize $200 million for elderly and senior housing, and $4 million to cover gaps in reconstruction costs for damaged federally subsidized housing damaged by the hurricane remains stalled in the Senate.

- Tourism: A measure to authorize $130 million for Louisiana and $45 million for Mississippi to promote tourism appears unlikely to move in either the Senate or House this year.

- GO Zone extenders: The House passed legislation extending Go Zone tax breaks for businesses that relocate or rebuild in Gulf Coast communities affected by the 2005 hurricanes. Senate action is pending.