Louisiana Congressmen Graves, Richmond target SBA loan headache for flood victims with new bill
Folks like
Thibodeaux ended up turning down the loan -- but a federal rule against so-called "duplication of benefits" means state officials running the federally funded Restore Louisiana grant program have still been forced to subtract the loan amount Thibodeaux was approved for from any potential award.
"Survivors are constantly urged by
The Governor's Office, which is running the roughly
The Stafford Act, the law controlling much of federal disaster-response policy, prohibits disaster victims from receiving duplicate government assistance for the damages. In recent years, federal agencies have interpreted that regulation to mean those approved for government loans -- even if they didn't take out a cent -- already received a benefit that can't be duplicated by a disaster grant.
For Louisianans like Thibodeaux, who finished repairs on his home just three weeks ago after seeing it swamped in more than three feet of water, it's been a maddening and unexpected roadblock.
Thibodeaux said he was approved for a Restore Louisiana grant but ended up not getting any money from the program because the roughly
"I put in for an SBA loan but I didn't take it -- I said no because I knew there was going to be some government bullshit about it," Thibodeaux said by phone Friday while helping his son do repairs on his own flood-damaged home. "Well, I found out they held it against you just like if you got that money. I didn't think that was fair at all."
Fixing his home and replacing ruined appliances cost Thibodeaux roughly
"I've been telling everybody, 'Don't count on getting no money,'" Thibodeaux said of the Restore Louisiana program. "I'm fed up with it to be honest with you. I'm just fed up with our federal government, period. I think a lot of people are."
The bill introduced by Graves and Richmond on Thursday was co-sponsored by Rep.
The delegates from the
A spokesman for House Majority
"It doesn't make sense that folks are penalized for doing the right thing immediately following the floods," said
Richmond and Graves' bill would also loosen federal rules that restrict what kinds of flood-prevention and mitigation projects states can build using congressional disaster-recovery funds.
Current regulations place major obstacles in the way of using
The restrictions are among several challenges facing the long-planned but largely unbuilt
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