House Bill 1340

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRACKING OF CERTAIN FEDERAL GRANT FUNDS THAT ARE TO BE PROVIDED TO THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI FOR ASSISTANCE TO HOMEOWNERS WHOSE HOMES WERE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED BY HURRICANE KATRINA; TO DIRECT THE MISSISSIPPI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN AND COMPILE IN A DATABASE THE CERTAIN INFORMATION FOR EACH ASSISTANCE GRANT MADE TO A HOMEOWNER WHOSE HOME WAS DAMAGED OR DESTROYED BY HURRICANE KATRINA; TO PROVIDE THAT THE MISSISSIPPI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SHALL POST ON ITS WEB SITE ON A MONTHLY BASIS CERTAIN INFORMATION RELATING TO THE ASSISTANCE GRANTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) The purpose of this section is to provide a method for tracking Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds that are to be provided to the State of Mississippi under the Fiscal Year 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 2863) for assistance to homeowners whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. With this information obtained under this section, public officials will be better able to determine if those grant funds are being provided to the most affected areas and if the grant funds are being distributed equitably.

(2) The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) shall obtain and compile in a database the following information for each grant of CDBG funds to a homeowner whose home was damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina:

(a) The address of the house to be repaired or rebuilt with the grant;

(b) The amount of the grant disbursed by address; and

(3) From the information compiled under subsection (2), the MDA shall post the following information by supervisors district on its Web site on a monthly basis:

(a) The number of grant recipients; and

(b) The total number and amount of grants disbursed. (4) The MDA may provide the information compiled under subsection (2) to the Mississippi Automated Resource Information System (MARIS) or other appropriate agencies or entities with mapping capability in order to track the distribution of grant funds by supervisors district; however, no other personal information pertaining to a grant recipient may be posted on MDA's Web site or divulged by MDA to any person, agency or entity, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Any information obtained by MDA with regard to CDBG funds provided to a homeowner, other than the information specified in subsection (2), shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act, Section 25-61-1 et seq.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.