Louisiana

Jun 30, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced a commitment of more than $7 million in federal stimulus funds for coastal restoration efforts in Plaquemines and Jefferson Parishes. The funds were provided by a grant program through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).    » read more »

Governor Jindal announces FEMA will cover 100 percent of debris removal efforts after Hurricane Ike; State and local agencies cost share dropped to 10 percent for rebuilding work under the Public Assistance Program

Jul 01, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has dropped the state’s cost share for Hurricane Ike response and recovery operations, which the state estimates could save state and local agencies between $15 million and $20 million.

Language in a recent supplemental bill passed by Congress directed FEMA to drop the state’s cost-share burden for the Public Assistance program for Hurricane Ike, which struck Louisiana just days after    » read more »

A column by United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La.

06/23/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Last summer, Americans were reeling from the largest oil price spike the nation ever experienced. Oil prices had increased from $51 per barrel in January 2007 to nearly $150 in July 2008 — a nearly 200 percent increase in 18 months.

Skyrocketing energy prices led millions of hardworking families to demand that Congress change our policies to allow for more domestic oil and gas production. Americans from coast to coast were ready to cut ties with unfriendly foreign governments and produce our own energy right here at home.    » read more »

June 18, 2009 -- (Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator David Vitter today issued the following statement applauding the Air Force’s final selection of Barksdale Air Force as the home of the new Global Strike Command.

“This is certainly great news for Barksdale Air Force Base and for Northwest Louisiana in particular. I have been meeting throughout the year with Air Force officials to encourage them to come to the right decision on Barksdale. As recently as June 3, I asked them to move ahead with their final announcement and they followed through and delivered this great news a little more than two weeks later.    » read more »

Polymer Manufacturer to Locate New Facility near Plaquemine, Creating over 500 Jobs

PLAQUEMINE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal joined SNF Holding Co. (SNF) officials to announce that the company will construct a new water-soluble polymers manufacturing facility in Iberville Parish. Once fully operational, the plant will employ over 500 permanent, full-time employees with an average salary of $57,400 and involve capital investment of at least $362 million.

Governor Jindal said, “I want to commend SNF for making such a significant investment in Iberville Parish and in the people of this community. Today’s announcement, along with a number of other recent announcements, has helped Louisiana’s economy outperform the national and Southern economies.    » read more »

Jun 18, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal released the following statement on the U.S. Air Force’s announcement that Barksdale Air Force Base (BAFB) will definitely be the permanent location for the new Air Force Global Strike Command.

“We received great news today that the environmental impact assessment has been successfully completed. There are no more hurdles for BAFB and now Global Strike Command will be activated in short order. Indeed, today’s news marks the final step towards a significant economic boost for Northwest Louisiana.    » read more »

Jun 18, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that FEMA has granted Louisiana $177.6 million in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding to support projects to protect the state from future damage following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Governor Jindal said, “In the days following two back-to-back hurricanes that devastated many communities in our state last year, we saw the benefits of previous mitigation work, as elevated homes and buildings were largely spared from floodwater. We must now work to elevate even more homes, reinforce more buildings and structures and become better prepared for future storms.”    » read more »

Governor Bobby Jindal Announces New American Car Company Will Make History in Louisiana; V-Vehicle Company Selects Monroe, La. To Begin Assembling New Automobiles and Create 1,400 Jobs

Jun 17, 2009 --
MONROE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Economic Development (LED) Secretary Stephen Moret joined executives from V-Vehicle Company (VVC), Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) partners, local businessmen and local officials to publicly announce that VVC, a new American car company headquartered in San Diego, will begin assembling cars in Monroe. The project will create over 1,400 direct jobs at an average annual salary of nearly $40,000 plus benefits, as well as capital investment of at least $248 million.    » read more »

Governor Jindal Announces $565.5 Million in Federal Aid to Parishes Across State for Recovery from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike

June 15, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced Monday that 53 parishes will share more than $565.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to aid their recoveries from hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which caused widespread housing and infrastructure damage last year.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development notified Louisiana of its second award of disaster recovery funds, meaning the state’s $800 million recovery plan is fully funded.    » read more »

Governor Bobby Jindal Announces Second Allocation of Federal Recovery Assistance - $620 Million in Aid for Hurricanes Gustav & Ike Recovery

Jun 10, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that the federal government’s second allotment of recovery assistance to assist the state in building back from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike totals $620 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the funding earlier today, and this second allotment follows the first allotment of $438 million to Louisiana from HUD last year.    » read more »

Grant Will Help Parish Expand East Bank Facility, Support Economic Growth

06/05/2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03) today announced that St. James Parish would receive a $1.6 million federal Recovery Act investment to expand the capacity of the East Bank Water Treatment Plant. The planned expansion will enable new industries to locate in the parish, creating many new jobs in the region.    » read more »

Projects represent $100 million investment in south Louisiana

June 04, 2009 -- KENNER, La. – Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. have completed three major projects that represent an investment of more than $100 million in the electric transmission system in south Louisiana, the companies announced Thursday.

The projects include the rebuild of a transmission line in Plaquemines Parish that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and two upgrades to transmission lines that run through the Baton Rouge to New Orleans corridor.    » read more »

After months of working on the issue with the administration and Louisiana delegation, projects will go forward.

06/02/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Disaster Recovery Subcommittee, today announced major progress for Louisiana hurricane recovery projects located in designated High Velocity Flood Zones.    » read more »

06/02/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today welcomed General Motors' announcement that its tentative sale of HUMMER will continue the assembly of the H3 and H3T at the Shreveport plant through at least 2010. As part of the proposed transaction, HUMMER will continue to contract vehicle manufacturing and business services with GM.    » read more »

06/02/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., today announced that two Louisiana floodplain easement applications have been selected for funding under the Recovery Act of 2009. The easements will cover 710 acres in Tensas Parish and 341 acres in Richland Parish. As a result of this $1,798,528 investment, about 300,000 hardwood trees will be planted. These trees will reduce the loss of future commodity crops by removing the land from crop production, and will help restore the habitat of the threatened Louisiana black bear.    » read more »