April 5, 2007
Contact: Robin Winchell (202) 225-4031
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon announced today
that the Town of Golden Meadow
will receive a $850,000 grant and a $258,000 low interest direct loan from the
United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program. The
federal funding will be used to construct a multi-use emergency response
command center building that will provide first responders with a secure base
of operations during catastrophic disasters. The USDA had originally
awarded only $358,000 in grant money and offered a $750,000 loan.
However, at Rep. Melancon's urging, the USDA reevaluated Golden Meadow's
post-Katrina and Rita financial situation and revised the funding proposal to
more than double the grant money offered, which the town will not be
responsible for repaying.
"I am pleased the USDA Rural Development took a fresh
look at Golden Meadow's request and used their discretion in re-evaluating what
the town could realistically afford to contribute to this project," said
Rep. Melancon. "All too often, government bureaucracies get bogged down in
rules and regulations and find reasons to say ‘no,' instead of working with
local people to find a way to say ‘yes.' I am encouraged that the USDA was open
to cooperating with us to cut the red tape and get this important project moving."
In his letter to USDA's Undersecretary for Rural
Development, Rep. Melancon reasoned that the need for Golden Meadow's emergency
response center was clearly demonstrated during both Hurricane Katrina and Rita
and further federal funding for the center would help the community better
prepare for future hurricanes. Click here to view a copy of the letter.
Rep. Melancon has worked in Congress to further reduce the
financial burden on local governments in south Louisiana struggling to recover after
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Rep. Melancon lobbied to include language in
the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill, passed by the House on March 23rd,
to forgive 100% of the estimated $1 billion in Community Disaster Loans owed by
local governments in Louisiana.
The CDLs were provided by the federal government to hurricane-affected local
governments immediately following Katrina and Rita to help them continue daily
operations, such as payroll for law enforcement and emergency responders.
Many local governments do not have the ability to repay this massive debt, as
their tax bases were devastated by the storms. Rep. Melancon has argued
that, in the past, CDLs have been forgiven following many other major
disasters, including Hurricane Andrew and the September 11th terrorist
attacks.
Rep. Melancon also worked to provide additional funding in
the Supplemental to cover the 10% local funding match required for the $3.4
billion in federal disaster relief grants included in the bill, which will be
distributed by FEMA for rebuilding public infrastructure damaged by the
storms. In addition, Rep. Melancon made sure language was included in the
Gulf Coast
Hurricane Recovery Act of 2007, passed by the House on March 21st,
to cut the red tape that was preventing the state of Louisiana from using already appropriated
federal funding to help local governments pay their local match for rebuilding
projects. Federal law requires local governments to pay their match
upfront before they can draw down federal funding, causing many of the
estimated 23,000 disaster recovery projects in Louisiana to be put on hold
because local governments don't have the resources to provide the
match. Rep. Melancon also introduced legislation with House
Majority Whip James E. Clyburn earlier this year to completely eliminate the
local match requirement for Katrina and Rita disaster recovery projects, which
would free up an additional $800 million for Louisiana to invest in critical needs, like
repairing and rebuilding police stations, fire stations and other important
infrastructure.
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