Louisiana Seeks to Use Hurricane Recovery Money for Pre-K Program

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle2 Comments

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration wants to shift $20 million in hurricane recovery dollars for hurricanes Gustav and Ike to fill in budget gaps in the state’s free preschool program for at-risk students.

The proposal, which requires approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has been posted for public comment.

The hurricane recovery dollars were included in the $75 million annual budget for the Cecil J. Picard LA4 Early Childhood Program for the fiscal year that began July 1, a budget approved by lawmakers in June.

Preschool access won’t expand with the money. The dollars will plug part of a budget hole created when federal stimulus funding that had been used for the program disappeared.

Jindal’s chief budget adviser, Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, said the spending will help people impacted by the storms by offering pre-kindergarten education to 4-year-olds in low- to moderate-income families in hurricane-damaged parishes.

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Hurricane Recovery Money Redirected to Superdome Upgrades

April 23, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Jindal administration has gotten permission to redirect federal hurricane recovery money from housing aid programs to Superdome upgrades.

Federal approval was discussed on April 19 in the Senate Finance Committee and was confirmed by Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman for the governor’s Division of Administration.

Nearly $7 million is being moved from recovery programs, including fisheries assistance, small business loans and housing aid, to another program that will help pay for improvements to the Superdome, where the New Orleans Saints play.

The proposal needed approval from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the spending of the billions of dollars in block grant aid allocated to Louisiana after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a Democrat from New Orleans, had asked for the money shift to be scrapped, saying the plan was ill-advised because people still are struggling to rebuild more than six years after Katrina.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s commissioner of administration, Paul Rainwater, said the Disaster Recovery Unit was shifting unused dollars returned after several parishes said they weren’t needed for the programs to which they had been divvied up.

The money is being sent to a local government infrastructure program, and from there, will be used for Superdome repairs and improvements that didn’t qualify for FEMA aid after Katrina. More than $40 million from the fund already has been used on the domed stadium.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Texas / South Central NewsTopics: Katrina, New Orleans, recovery, superdomeHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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