[StBernard] LRA Approves Preliminary Homeowner Assistance Proposal

[Westley Annis]

LRA Approves Preliminary Homeowner Assistance Proposal

Public, Legislature to Shape Plan before it is Submitted to Feds

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana's effort to rebuild houses damaged and
destroyed by hurricanes Rita and Katrina moved one step closer to reality
Thursday. 

The Louisiana Recovery Authority Board of Directors unanimously approved
Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's preliminary housing plan, dubbed The
Road Home, with instructions to develop an action plan for federal funding
consistent with its principles. 

The Road Home would provide up to $150,000 in aid to homeowners for the
repair, rebuilding, buyout/relocate or sale of homes affected by the
hurricanes. The plan for owner-occupants is phase one of the proposal.
Governor Blanco introduced phase two, a $1.75 billion rental assistance and
developer incentives plan, on Tuesday. 

The housing plan still needs public input and legislative approval before it
can be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for
consideration.

It also needs to be fully funded. The $7.5 billion homeowner assistance plan
relies on Congressional approval of $4.2 billion in additional recovery aid
for Louisiana that was requested last month by President Bush. The state
needs the full amount, along with $6.26 in aid already appropriated by
Congress and the President in order to fully fund this program. The $4.2
billion in aid is part of a larger supplemental appropriations bill that is
currently under debate in the U. S. Congress.

The LRA approved the current plan so it can move expeditiously through the
process and so it will be ready to assist homeowners by the time the state
receives its funding. 

"There is no time to waste. I talk with people every day who have lost
everything and despair of ever being able to get back into their homes. We
want to assure them that we are working as quickly as we can to develop a
plan that addresses their needs and returns them to a safer environment,"
LRA Housing Task Force Chairman Walter Leger, of St. Bernard Parish, said.

LRA Executive Director Andy Kopplin explained that the plan next goes to the
Office of Community Development, where it will be shaped into an action
plan. After that, it will be submitted for public comment as well as go to
the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget then the full Legislature
before being submitted to HUD for approval.

Last week, Governor Blanco opened a housing registry for homeowners seeking
financial assistance. Homeowners can sign up by visiting The Road Home
housing registry at www.louisianarebuilds.info
<http://www.louisianarebuilds.info>  or by calling a toll-free helpline at
888-ROAD 2 LA.

As of Wednesday, 36,279 people had registered for The Road Home program --
25,605 by phone and 10,674 on the Internet.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority was created by Governor Blanco to address
the short- and long-term needs of the recovery. For more information about
the housing plan and the LRA, go to www.lra.louisiana.gov
<http://www.lra.louisiana.gov> .

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