[StBernard] LRA Board Member Testifies Before Congressional Committee on Disaster Host Communities

[Westley Annis]

LRA Board Member Testifies Before 
Congressional Committee on Disaster Host Communities

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) Board Member Kim Boyle, who chairs the LRA's Health Care Committee, testified today before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Response at a field hearing in Baton Rouge chaired by Senator Mary Landrieu.

Boyle spoke about ways to improve access to and the delivery of health care and social services to those displaced from their homes after a disaster. She also called for a reform to federal law that would designate major disasters as "catastrophes" and afford states automatic waivers of certain cost-sharing burdens, allowing for quicker response and recovery. 

To read Boyle's testimony as prepared, click here. <http://www.lra.louisiana.gov/boyle_testimony_final.pdf>  

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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