Louisiana

March 5, 2010 -- WASHINGTON -- U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today, joined by Senator Mary Landrieu, announced an $80 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) investment to help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs, and improve education and healthcare in Louisiana.

The grant will bring high-speed Internet access to more than 80 community anchor institutions—including universities, K-12 schools, libraries, healthcare facilities—and lay the groundwork for bringing affordable broadband service to thousands of homes and businesses in the region.    » read more »

Plan for Restoring Ecosystem Resiliency and Sustainability

Mar 04, 2010 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chairman (CPRA) Garret Graves issued statements on the White House’s Gulf Coast Roadmap for Restoring Ecosystem Resiliency and Sustainability:    » read more »

Jan 15, 2010 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that the State of Louisiana is in constant contact with federal officials to offer any needed assistance to Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake there.    » read more »

Medicare Fraud Strike Force Expands Operations into Brooklyn, New York; Tampa, Florida; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Strike Force Operations Lead to 30 Indictments

December 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—Thirty people have been charged in three cities for their alleged roles in schemes to submit more than $61 million in false Medicare claims as part of the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced today.    » read more »

Grants issued by the Department of Homeland Security to be awarded in 2010

12/08/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pledged nearly $62 million in emergency preparedness grants for Louisiana. DHS will accept and review applications from Louisiana entities for the funding, provide grant guidance to applicants, and issue the awards in the spring or early summer 2010.    » read more »

December 8, 2009 -- NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) recently announced more than $7.3 million in public assistance grants to fund work necessary to help restore three Katrina-damaged harbors, ports and locks throughout southeast Louisiana.

“This funding supports various types of permanent work necessary to restore crucial structures that support Louisiana’s waterways,” said FEMA’s Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office Acting Director Tony Russell. “Navigational channels and their subsequent facilities are essential aspects of this area’s way of life – economically, industrially and recreationally speaking.”    » read more »

Collections and Settlements Total $465 Million; Gov. Reaffirms Commitment to Direct Proceeds from Program to Health Care

Dec 07, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that collections from the 2009 Louisiana Tax Amnesty Program have reached more than $450.6 million, and collections from tax settlements have reached $15 million, for a total of more than $465.6 million.

The Department of Revenue put the tally from the amnesty program collections at $450,671,286.89 as of Monday. Those taxpayers who did not meet the requirements of the amnesty program were able to resolve their disputes through settlements with the Department of Revenue outside of the program, and these litigation settlements total $15 million to date.    » read more »

Dec 01, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal issued a letter to the President and FEMA requesting a major disaster presidential declaration for Louisiana as a result of severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that affected some northern and western areas of the state from October 29 to November 3, 2009

Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C.

Through:

Gary Jones
Acting Regional Administrator
FEMA Region VI
800 North Loop 288
Denton, TX 76209-3698

Dear Mr. President:    » read more »

Nov 30, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has declared 53 parishes as primary natural disaster areas and ten parishes as contiguous disaster areas due to a combination of disasters including a severe drought and excessive rainfall that caused production losses for farmers throughout the state. The disaster declaration makes farm operators eligible for emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program from the U.S. Farm Service Agency (FSA).    » read more »

11/16/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help protect homeowners from scams by companies and individuals claiming to have solutions for tainted Chinese drywall. In a letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Sen. Landrieu and five other Senators raised concerns about deceptive practices that prey on consumers with defective drywall and asked the Commission to fully investigate and prosecute companies engaging in these activities.

The letter was signed by Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), David Vitter (R-La.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.).    » read more »

Nov 13, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine today applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to delay a proposed plan banning the interstate sale of untreated raw Gulf oysters in warm months. Both the Governor and Secretary had previously expressed their concerns with the proposal directly to the FDA, which has now agreed to commission a study on both the economic impact of any decision for the oyster industry and how to decrease the incidence of vibrio vulnificus infection.

Governor Jindal sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg on Tuesday, outlining the effects of its proposed regulations on the state’s oyster industry.    » read more »

FDA to Study Consequences of Proposal

November 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON— U.S. Congressman Charlie Melancon (LA-03) announced today that the Food and Drug Administration has halted movement on a proposed ban of the sale of fresh Gulf oysters during warm weather months, pending the results of a feasibility study.

After Congressman Melancon and U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu organized a meeting earlier this week with Gulf Coast members of Congress and senior officials at the FDA, the agency decided to study the possible effects of the ban before moving forward.    » read more »

Senator Landrieu gets commitment from FDA Commissioner Dr. Hamburg in phone call today.

11/13/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to halt a proposed plan to ban Gulf Coast oysters that are not subject to post-harvest processing. Sen. Landrieu received the news in a phone call with FDA Commissioner Dr. Peggy Hamburg earlier today.

Sen. Landrieu has been a staunch opponent of the FDA regulation, and has organized several calls and meetings urging top FDA officials to reconsider their proposed action.    » read more »

Nov 09, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal applauded the grand opening of Northrop Grumman’s new 20,000-square-foot facility in Slidell, La. The new facility combined Northrop Grumman’s Slidell office and Stennis Space Center operations, representing a $4 million capital investment.

This project retained 35 jobs from the Slidell office, created 40 new high-tech jobs at an average annual salary of $47,000 plus benefits and will generate approximately 31 indirect jobs. In addition, this project is expected to generate nearly $1.7 million in new state tax revenues and nearly $1.2 million in new local tax revenues from 2009 to 2018.    » read more »

Highlights Severe Impact on Oyster Industry

Nov 10, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE - Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal issued the following letter to the Food and Drug Administration urging officials to reconsider new shellfish policy changes, highlighting the severe impact the new policy would have on the oyster industry.

The Honorable Margaret Hamburg, M.D.
Commissioner

U.S. Food and Drug Administration
10903 New Hampshire Ave
Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002

Dear Commissioner Hamburg:    » read more »