By CHRIS GREEN
Harris News Service
TOPEKA -- Greensburg residents asked a House panel Wednesday to advance legislation that would help construct affordable housing in disaster-struck areas like their own.
The Senate voted 35-5 earlier this session in favor of a bill that offers $4 million a year in grants for housing projects over the next three years to communities in federally declared disaster areas.
But the measure has yet to pass out of the House's budget-writing committee, which has been wary of new spending in what's expected to be a tight budget year.
House Appropriations Chairwoman Sharon Schwartz, R-Washington, said after the meeting that she didn't know whether her committee would take further action on the bill. But she said another panel member might request that the bill be reconsidered.
Ann Dixson, one of several residents to address Schwartz's committee Wednesday, said the legislation would be crucial for helping her town and others suffering from last year's disasters to recover.
"We don't like handouts," Dixson said, "but the community of Greensburg needs a hand up to continue the rebuilding effort and to make affordable housing available to the middle-class working community."
Already lacking in many rural Kansas communities, economical housing has proved to be an even scarcer commodity in some areas after natural disasters battered parts of central and southeast Kansas last year.
Storms severely damaged or destroyed more than 3,000 homes throughout the state, and the May tornado wiped out nearly all of Greensburg's housing.
Although rebuilding is ongoing, Dixson and other Greensburg residents said the effort is proving to be very expensive. The construction costs for rebuilding homes is running about three times above what the old homes were valued at, she said, and the expenses often far outstrip what insurance covers.
We just need a home
Residents attributed the steeper price tag to the rising cost of building materials, a lack of construction labor in their region and the fact that builders must drive in from up to 100 miles away.
When Rep. Joe McLeland, R-Wichita, asked whether the town's effort to rebuild with more energy-efficient buildings was a factor in the high costs, Marvin George, pastor of the town's First Baptist Church, said it wasn't.
"The people who are in need of this, that's not an issue for them," George said of the program. "They just need a home."
Other residents, including House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, added that the town's efforts to rebuild "green" would save money in the long run and encourage investment in the town.
The proposal before the House panel would allow cities to apply for grants to rebuild housing or reconstruct housing-related infrastructure, such as streets or sewers. Local officials would be required to match up to 10 percent of grants for infrastructure and 50 percent for other projects.
McKinney said the program would allow communities to take their own approach in addressing their area's housing needs.
"In Greensburg, we see a need to help working families get back into town and into our work force," McKinney said. "Many wage-earning families had nice homes that were lost in the tornado. Now, to rebuild a basic home costs $100,000 to $125,000."
State officials swiftly approved $5 million in housing aid last year for Greensburg and southeast Kansas. But those dollars have been fully committed, Kansas Housing Resources Corp. President Steve Weatherford said.
That funding, along with private investment and federal aid, helped build new rental housing in those areas. It also helped provide loans of up to $25,000 to residents for repairing or rebuilding their homes.
Funding for the new grant program would be expected to come from state funds for one year. In future years, the aid would come from profits produced by new state-owned casinos, which are being challenged in court.
After the initial three-year focus on communities rebuilding from disasters, the program would be opened up to help communities in rural counties across the state to address housing needs.
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