[StBernard] LRA Vice Chair Walter Isaacson Applauds Congress for Action on "Duplication of Benefits"

[Westley Annis]

LRA Vice Chair Walter Isaacson Applauds Congress for Action on "Duplication of Benefits"

BATON ROUGE, La. (April 18, 2006) - Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) Vice Chairman Walter Isaacson issued the following statement today in response to the US House of Representatives' passage of The Relief for Entrepreneurs: Coordination of Objectives and Values for Effective Recovery (RECOVER) Act of 2007 that allows the US Small Business Administration's (SBA) Administrator to waive the duplication of benefits requirement related to Road Home grants. 

"We applaud the House for their action today. The term, 'duplication of benefits,' has been a bureaucratic thorn in our side since day one. Through the leadership of our delegation, Congress heeded our calls for a legislative fix and we thank them for it. We're looking forward to the day when families trying to get their lives back to normal are no longer hampered by this silly policy, which assumes a loan is the same thing as a grant."

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, claiming 1,464 lives, destroying more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses. The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the planning and coordinating body that was created in the aftermath of these storms by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to lead one of the most extensive rebuilding efforts in the world. The LRA is a 33-member body which is coordinating across jurisdictions, supporting community recovery and resurgence, ensuring integrity and effectiveness, and planning for the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana.

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