Senator Bill Cassidy (R) - Louisiana
The long-awaited disaster relief funding has been approved by Congress and Senator Bill Cassidy said there’s about $600 million allotted for southwest Louisiana.
“So, there’s good news and bad news. It’s about $100-milllion, $150-million more than they were going to get under the Trump administration, so they received significant dollars more but speaking to Mayor (Nic) Hunter (Lake Charles) it’s not enough,” said Cassidy.
As for Hurricane Ida disaster-related funding, Cassidy estimates there’s around a billion for the state.
“And that has to be totally determined, but that again is the first tranche and there will be a second opportunity to get relief for those affected by Ida in a future bill probably in December,” said Cassidy.
Cassidy said while there are funds in the bipartisan infrastructure bill that could be used to assist southwest Louisiana, he admits it’s going to be an uphill battle on Capitol Hill to get additional funding for housing related to Hurricanes Laura and Delta.
“It’s going to be difficult, to be honest with you, doesn’t mean we stop, doesn’t mean we don’t work for it, we continue to make the case, and we shall do so,” said Cassidy.
Republican congressmen Steve Scalise and Mike Johnson were the only members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation to vote against the funding resolution, which passed the Senate, 65-35, and the House, 254-175.
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