The federal government has already allocated $1.6 billion to Louisiana to aid in recovery from the August flood. Today, the Restore Louisiana Task Force approved the Governor’s plan on how to spend it. The Restore Louisiana Task Force approved the Governor's proposal for spending the latest $1.2 billion of federal recovery money.
A large majority of the federal recovery money -- $1.3 billion -- will be spent on home repairs.
The focus is on over 36-thousand homes that took on major damage and were not covered by flood insurance.
Pat Forbes, Executive Director of Office of Community Development, explained that federal rules require 70% of the funding be directed towards people with low-to-moderate income. They’ll receive the full cost to repair their homes.
“Until we’ve fully met the needs of low-to-moderate income people in the state, impacted by the floods, we can’t go spend money on other things,” Forbes said.
The task force also approved a measure allowing the state to seek a waiver, instead dedicating 50% of the money for low-to-moderate income households.
Governor Edwards administration continued to emphasize that $1.6 billion is not enough for the state to fully recover. Edwards will make several more trips to Washington, D.C. to request another $2 billion in recovery funding.
This report has been brought to you by the Louisiana Public Radio Partnership, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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