Lafourche council shoots down Company Canal deal
June 8, 2010Thursday, June 10
June 10, 2010The state Senate will decide the fate of a state House bill aimed at divvying $25 million in BP grant money to areas most affected by the oil spill.
State Rep. Sam Jones, who is the principal author of HB 1358, said he’s keeping his fingers crossed the Senate Finance Committee and senators pass the measure by the end of the week.
However, Jones fears Gov. Bobby Jindal may strip the amendment from the bill.
“Baton Rouge (the state budget) does not need this money. We need it on the coast to install our own soft and hard boom; to hire our own cleanup crews; and contract for skimmers and absorbent companies – professionals who do this work,” Jones said.
The amendment would disperse cash to 11 parishes and the Town of Grand Isle, Jones said. Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes would receive $3 million each; Orleans and St. Tammany, $2 million; Grand Isle, $1.5 million; and $1.1 million each to St. Mary, Iberia, Vermillion and Cameron.
The measure passed the state House Friday without objection.
“These are the areas that have taken the toughest licks,” Jones said. “And the vote was a huge statement by the Legislature.”
Just last week, Jones and fellow Democrat, state Sen. Butch Gautreaux, blasted Jindal for not moving quickly to distribute the $40 million in grant paid by BP. Of that, $25 million is reserved for cleanup and $15 million is for tourism.
“The Jindal administration needs to … send [the grant dollars] to our people so we can use it to save ourselves, and they need to do it now,” Jones said.
The Franklin-area state representative said Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have all dispersed BP funding to respective counties affected by the spill.
“Too much times has been wasted between Gov. Jindal arguing with BP and the president. If we can get this money to local governments, we have a chance to save ourselves,” Jones continued. “The money is there and state treasurer John Kennedy has said he can make it available quickly. He supports our amendment.”
Kennedy publicly lent his support of HB 1358 in a statement issued last week. “This is a way we can get much-needed money into the hands of local governments to pay for cleanup and other spill-related expenses,” he said in the release.
Gautreaux, who will vote on the measure in the Senate this week, took his argument that Jindal needs to release BP monies to the national airwaves in a recent interview on MSNBC.
The Senator lauded the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen and U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu for their quick response, supervision and leadership, respectively.
When asked about Jindal’s criticism of the Obama administration, Gautreaux fired back, “Well, Bobby Jindal and I have a disagreement about that. Frankly, I think that [Jindal’s] leadership has not been what it should be.
“I just became aware the BP had given us $25 million for the parishes for immediate relief on issues … without strings attached. …only $3 million of that has come from the governor’s office, which makes no sense at all. And, of course, while local governments are waiting for monies to address some of their immediate needs, the money is just sitting in the bank.”
