Gov. John Bel Edwards, stung by U.S. Sen.-elect John Kennedy’s assertion the governor hasn’t done enough to secure more federal flood aid, wrote Kennedy on Monday to bring him “up to speed” on the situation, The USA Today Network of Louisiana reports.
Congress has approved about $1.6 billion in federal flood relief for Louisiana so far, $1 billion less that President Obama requested and less than half of the $4.1 billion Edwards proposed.
Edwards referred to a USA Today Network of Louisiana story published Sunday in which Kennedy placed partial blame on Edwards for the shortfall. Kennedy was quoted as saying, “We need to have a plan to spend what we’ve got and assure (Congress) the money will be spent on flood recovery and won’t be stolen or wasted.”
“I understand that your time has been consumed with campaigning for the office you will assume in January 2017; therefore you are not up to speed on our flood recovery efforts,” the Democratic governor wrote to Kennedy, a Republican.
In the letter, Edwards chronicled his five trips to Washington to lobby for aid with Louisiana’s congressional delegation and his creation of the Restore Louisiana Task Force to craft an overall plan to spend the money.
“The federal process, which you will soon oversee as a member of Congress, sets for a procedure for disbursement of these funds,” Edwards wrote. “The guidelines were not published until Nov. 21, 2016.”
Edwards added his staff has sought a meeting with Kennedy and his staff.
The USA Today Network of Louisiana has the full story.
