The LRA has put up for public comment the attached CDBG Action Plan for Gustav and Ike recovery. A projected $1.5 billion could come to the State and the first third of that allocation is due to arrive on November 28, 2008. Given the confusing allocation formulas - 25% of total funds will be administered by the state for either rental housing, agriculture, fisheries or hurricane protection; of the funds to be allocated to the parishes a total of 10% must be spent on rental housing with an additional requirement that 30% of these funds be spent on housing recovery (it is not clear if the 10% for rental is included in the overall 30% of parish funds to be allocated to housing)-there is a great deal of concern that sufficient funds will not be allocated to addressing the housing needs of the most vulnerable that were affected by these two storms.
PolicyLink has developed a public comment delineating these concerns and proposing suggested changes - many of which came out of the series of community meetings on unmet housing needs that you helped to organize/attended. We are asking that you help circulate these public comments in order to get organizations and individuals to sign on. We will then submit the public comment with whoever has signed on. We have been told the comment period will start on December 1, 2008 and would like to get the comments in asap. Therefore we would like all feedback and sign-ons by November 30th. Please email all comments and your organization’s sign-on to niva@policylink.org. If you have further questions, feel
free to contact me at dominique@policylink.org.
Dominique Duval-Diop
Senior Associate
PolicyLink
1515 Poydras, Suite 105
New Orleans, LA 70112
P: 504-524-8185 ext 24
F: 504-525-8242
M: 225-615-4243
Visit our website: www.policylink.org