JINDAL TWICE DENIES LOUISIANA DESPERATELY NEEDED HURRICANE RECOVERY FUNDS

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Julie Vezinot

May 2, 2007 225-336-4155

JINDAL TWICE DENIES LOUISIANA DESPERATELY NEEDED HURRICANE RECOVERY FUNDS

Partisan Politics Priority for Jindal As He Consistently Sides with Republicans

BATON ROUGE – As House Democrats made a last minute attempt at Justice to override Bush’s veto of the Iraq War/Hurricane Recovery Bill, Jindal once again chose his party over his people and voted lock step with the Republicans to deny Louisiana recovery funds.

A day earlier, Bobby Jindal sent a letter to Gov. Kathleen Blanco on the possible deficit facing the Road Home program which is a complete contradiction in his support for hurricane recovery aid, according to Louisiana Democratic Party Chairman Chris Whittington.

Jindal twice voted against the Iraq War/Hurricane Recovery bill which included billions in recovery dollars to help rebuild the Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Included in these funds are $4.3 billion to cover the 10 percent matching fund requirements imposed by FEMA onto local and state governments for disaster assistance.

In his letter to Gov. Blanco, Jindal states:

“I understand that once Louisiana is able to get through FEMA’s red tape, we should realize additional money that can be used for specific Road Home outlays.”

“These are the very funds Jindal voted against in keeping his allegiance to the Bush Administration and ignoring the needs of Louisiana. As House Democrats, including those from his own Louisiana delegation struggled for a compromise to unlock these funds, Jindal AGAIN decided the price was too high to vote against his party,” said Whittington.

“It appears Jindal either believes that his hypocritical remarks will go unnoticed or this is yet another poorly veiled attempt to pander for votes. Each day Jindal sits in Congress offers him the opportunity to help the people of Louisiana recovery from these storms after nearly two years. However, he chooses to introduce meaningless legislation to garner media face time and kudos from the Republican Party,” Whittington said.

Here is a snapshot of the recover funds Jindal voted against:

· $1.3 billion to repair and complete flood and storm damage reduction projects in Louisiana and Mississippi.

· $4.3 billion for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund, in order to cover the cost of waiving Stafford Act state and local government matching fund requirements for disaster assistance programs.

· $140 million for farmers and ranchers affected by the hurricanes.

· $120 million for disaster relief for /fishing industries on the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

· $30 million for colleges and universities and $30 million for schools in the Gulf Coast.

· $25.1 million to allow the Small Business Administration Disaster Loan Program to continue to make and service disaster loans to homeowners and businesses.

· $14 million to increase oversight of rebuilding efforts and expenditure of funds dedicated to Hurricane recovery in Gulf Coast.

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