ENROLLED
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 103
BY REPRESENTATIVE DUPLESSIS
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Housing Corporation to consider emergency preparedness
and disaster resiliency characteristics when implementing design criteria for housing
developments competing for funding in programs administered by the corporation
and to explore sources of federal funds that may be available to retrofit existing
buildings using these same emergency preparedness and disaster resiliency design
criteria.
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Housing Corporation administers the Low Income
Housing Tax Credit Program which is a federal tax incentive program aimed at increasing
the availability of low-income rental housing; and
WHEREAS, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program subsidizes a portion of
the costs for constructing new housing developments or developments that involve the
substantial rehabilitation of existing units occupied by low-income individuals and families;
and
WHEREAS, each qualified development includes minimum project requirements and
a minimum percentage of units that must be reserved for eligible low-income tenants which
include veterans, the elderly, and mobility impaired citizens; and
WHEREAS, over the last ten years, Louisiana has experienced numerous hurricanes
and storm events that have caused catastrophic loss of property including catastrophic losses
due to wind and flooding; and
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WHEREAS, tenants of low- and moderate-income housing developments can be
particularly vulnerable during hurricanes and flooding events because they may lack the
ability to evacuate for extended periods of time or otherwise mitigate property damage and
losses; and
WHEREAS, because Louisiana is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes and other
storm and flooding events, it is imperative that emergency preparedness and disaster
resiliency characteristics become integral components of the minimum design criteria for
new low- and moderate-income housing developments; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, the Louisiana Housing Corporation administered a Piggyback
Resilience Initiative - Mixed Income (PRIME) program which provided sixty-million dollars
in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds to multifamily housing
developments which primarily benefitted low- and moderate-income populations; and
WHEREAS, eligible sites for the PRIME program included mandatory disaster
resilience criteria, including fortified commercial roof standards, multi-hazard risk and
vulnerability assessments, surface storm water management, access to potable water during
emergencies, and resilient energy systems including flood proofing of lower floors and
islandable power including efficient and portable generators and backflow preventors; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Housing Corporation should consider disaster resilience
criteria such as those included in the PRIME program for all of the housing developments
competing for funding administered by the corporation in order to mitigate property losses
and the hardship that extended evacuations cause for the tenants who live in housing
developments; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Housing Corporation should also explore sources of
federal funds that may be available to retrofit existing buildings that a portion of
construction costs were financed through federal incentive programs administered by the
Louisiana Housing Corporation to include these same emergency preparedness and disaster
resiliency design criteria so as to mitigate losses for tenants of housing developments.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Housing Corporation
to consider emergency preparedness and disaster resiliency characteristics when
implementing design criteria for housing developments competing for funding in programs
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administered by the corporation and to explore sources of federal funds that may be available
to retrofit existing buildings using these same emergency preparedness and disaster
resiliency design criteria.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
executive director of the Louisiana Housing Corporation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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