ATLANTA — As officials in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi devise guidelines to distribute $15 billion of private-activity bonds to help recovery efforts related to Hurricane Katrina, a group of nonprofits has presented proposals to make sure the process is fair and equitable.
The proposals are part of a report, released yesterday, called “Golden Opportunity: Making Gulf Opportunity Zone Bonds Work for Those Most In Need.” The group is made up of Good Jobs First, Interfaith Worker Justice, and the Gulf Coast Commission on Reconstruction Equity.
Philip Mattera, the research director for Good Jobs First and author of the report, said that no one in the bond community, such as attorneys or financial advisers, was consulted for the report, but the goal was not to put together a technical manual on procedures.
“We wanted to offer a set of policy options for public officials to take into account,” Mattera said. “We’re suggesting that the states don’t just see this as a technical process, but as an opportunity to address some of the larger social issues.”
For example, to prevent companies from “double dipping,” the group recommends excluding companies that have received federal contracts of $10 million or more for Katrina-related projects.
Under the federal GO Zone legislation passed last year, Louisiana can issue as much as $7.9 billion of the bonds, while Alabama and Mississippi can issue as much as $2.1 billion and $4.8 billion, respectively.
