[StBernard] Joint Budget Committee Approves LRA's Plan to Push Additional $68 Million to Small Businesses

[Westley Annis]

Joint Budget Committee Approves LRA's Plan to Push Additional $68 Million to Small Businesses

Budget Panel Also Approves $20 Million in Aid for Fisheries 

BATON ROUGE, La. (April 20, 2007) - The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget today approved the Louisiana Recovery Authority's (LRA) plan to push an additional $68 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) funds to small businesses trying to recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. More than 81,000 businesses were initially affected by the storms, while more than 18,000 are still out of business.

The proposal will increase available funding to the Business Recovery Grant and Loan Program from $143 million to $211 million to allow more businesses to access vital low-cost financing in the form of grants and zero-interest loans. The change will expand the program to businesses initially excluded in the first round because of a lack of available dollars.

More than 2,000 checks have been distributed so far to recipients of the program, which was created by the LRA and is administered by Louisiana Economic Development (LED). Award letters were mailed to more than 3,400 grant recipients in early April, with an average award amount of $18,100.

The budget panel also approved the LRA's plans to allocate $20 million in CDBG funds to help restore the fishing industry by investing in fisheries infrastructure and providing aid directly to fishermen. The aid package, developed with input from the fishing industry, will be avai! lable for repairing, improving, acquiring, and/or constructing infrastructure, returning fishing boats to service and providing funds for loans and grants to fishermen. 

The program would allocate $15 million to improve and expand infrastructure critical to the commercial and recreational fisheries industries, including docks, icehouses, boat launches, processing and shipping facilities, boats and other infrastructure. It also recommends $5 million to provide direct aid to fishermen through the existing Business Recovery Grant and Loan Program. 

"Thank you for the inclusiveness of program. I hope we can expedite funding and I move for approval," said Louisiana State Senator D.A. "Butch" Gautreaux. 

The plans now move to the full Louisiana Legislature for their review and approval. Should they be approved, the programs would move to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for final approval. 

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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