U.S, Senator John Kennedy says progress is being made to help an estimated six-thousand Louisiana residents who have not been able to access recovery dollars because they received a Small Business Administration loan following the 2016 floods. Kennedy says he had productive meeting with U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
President Trump signed a law last October that closed the duplication of benefits loophole. But HUD has yet to release the guidance required, so the state can legally distribute the money to newly eligible homeowners. Kennedy says he expects HUD will provide that guidance next month.
But the Office of Management and Budget will also have to act. Kennedy says he and fellow Senator Bill Cassidy plan to meet with the office’s acting director, Russell Vought, in a couple of weeks.
“I expect him to look me in the eye and tell us exactly where OMB is and whether if OMB intends to follow the directive of the United States Congress,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy says he’s tired of bureaucrats refusing to implement a law passed by Congress, and if the departments delay any further or resist the rule change, he’s calling President Trump.
“I will pick up the phone and call the President and the President will call me back if past experience is any indication, we’ll get this meeting set,” said Kennedy.
While Senators Kennedy and Cassidy pursue a bureaucratic fix, a Livingston Parish homeowner is suing the agencies involved to force the policy into action.
