[StBernard] Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco receives support to assist communities in recovery

[Westley Annis]

Blanco's Bulletin - News from the Office of the Governor <http://gov.state.la.us/> 

Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco receives support to assist communities in recovery 

BATON ROUGE, LA-Members of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (JLCB) today supported the Governor's requests to provide financial help to communities struggling to recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, funds to strengthen emergency communication and additional staff to provide further assistance to communities working to access federal recovery dollars.

Specifically the JLCB approved $100 million in Category A and B funds to pay the 10 percent match for local governments in public assistance funds. 

These are dollars the Governor committed to cover after the federal government failed to continue 100 percent funding for local communities working to rebuild.

"Our communities need assistance to get back on their feet, remove debris, bring infrastructure back on line and advance this recovery," Governor Blanco said. "When the federal government refused to continue the vital support they needed, we committed to step in and help. Today I am pleased that we were able to make good on that commitment."

The JLCB also approved $9.8 million for statewide interoperable communications to improve emergency communication between first responders.

This funding allocated from the State Emergency Fund will drive the initial interoperable communications solutions for the State of Louisiana and local governments. 

"As I stated after the storms if we can't communicate, we can't coordinate," Governor Blanco continued. "Hurricanes Katrina and Rita reinforced Louisiana's need for a strong, reliable, interoperable communications network for Louisiana. Today we move one step closer to implementing a best practice by achieving a long standing goal of full interoperability among first responders across both state and local jurisdictions."

The funds approved today will be used in coordination with the plan developed by the Statewide Interoperable Communication System Executive Committee. This includes purchasing new software and hardware to allow existing state and local equipment to communicate, new mobile radios for local jurisdictions, radio towers to expand radio coverage and providing equipment maintenance and fee relief for local and state entities. 

All initiatives will work through the Statewide Interoperable Communication System Executive Committee created by Executive Order KBB 2006-17 to ensure all interoperability efforts are coordinated.

The Governor's Office of Homeland Security also received approval today to add additional personnel who will be charged with directly assisting local communities in accessing federal recovery dollars.

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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's People
www.louisianahelp.org