From The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune — Originally published Thursday, July 16

When President Obama and Congress created the federal stimulus package, they promised to target “shovel-ready” projects to speed up its economic impact. Yet hurricane housing recovery work that was ready to go was not eligible for stimulus money …

So it’s welcome news that U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials have reinterpreted the rules to allow the rebuilding of Gulf Coast housing to vie for a share of $2 billion in housing aid.

… The housing stimulus money had been earmarked to help homeowners keep their homes, and the initial batch of cash was distributed using a formula based on each state’s rate of foreclosures. But Louisiana’s low rate of foreclosures meant much of the housing stimulus was bypassing our state.

What Louisiana and other coastal states recovering from storms still need is help to rebuild damaged housing. That help can come now that the Obama administration will make stimulus money available for redeveloping or demolishing vacant properties.

… These are important recovery efforts for our region. Plus, investing in these projects would fuel the local economy and provide jobs. That’s exactly what the stimulus was supposed to do.