Louisiana still asking Trump administration for action on ‘duplication of benefits’ fix for disaster relief
Just when and how the Trump administration will clear up the issue remains unclear.
A federal duplication-of-benefits rule -- designed to prevent flood victims from receiving multiple federal payouts for the same disaster damage -- has so far blocked Louisianans who took out SBA disaster loans from getting Restore Louisiana grants.
That's saddled homeowners who would've otherwise received free-and-clear grant money to rebuild with decades of repayments on low-interest, and in some cases market-rate, SBA disaster loans. About 6,000
The law passed by
But several congressional sources told The Advocate a presidential waiver is unnecessary because the recently passed law declares that loans won't count against grant applications. At least some
The congressman, who helped write the change in the law, said it clearly frees homeowners who've taken out SBA disaster loans to receive grants.
"There is a disagreement among the bureaucrats about whether the waiver actually needs to be signed or not," Graves said by email on Wednesday. "I could care less about why they think the legal authority is there -- all we want is for the money to get to flood victims. We have been waiting too long already."
State officials have held off sending out checks to affected homeowners until the federal government gives them final clearance on the chance the Trump administration ends up ruling against the state and forcing the state to claw back money already distributed.
Graves called the state's hesitation understandable but said he'd "just cut the checks" because he's confident that bureaucratic incompetence -- and not an actual legal issue -- is delaying the final fix to the duplication of benefits issue.
Sullivan said he couldn't comment on how HUD would implement the change until that review is completed.
Spokespeople for the
"Our office has urged the
Graves added Wednesday he's planning on holding a congressional oversight hearing to demand an explanation for the delay from federal officials.
"This is a perfect example as to why people hate bureaucrats," Graves said. "Someone needs to be fired over this. I intend to help make that happen."
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