Busy Day for LA on Capitol Hill

Yesterday was a busy day for Louisiana on Capitol Hill. First up was a new economic stimulus and disaster assistance package, which would give Louisiana an extra $3 billion in recovery aid.

The legislation would give Louisiana 30 years, instead of three, to repay more than $1.7 billion as its share of levee upgrades in metro New Orleans; $350 million to help hospitals in Louisiana and Mississippi deal with cash-flow issues and other post-hurricane problems; and $75 million to help fight increased violent crime and rebuild police fire and criminal justice facilities.

Secondly, Sen. Landrieu spent a second day castigating FEMA for their poor management and failure to even bother asking the Louisiana Recovery Authority, non-profits or housing agencies if they needed supplies donated to hurricane victims.

Paul Rainwater, executive director of the LRA, said:

Had I known about these supplies, I would have moved to quickly put them to good use.

You can listen to the full hearing here.