Grassroots group calls for surplus to go to Louisiana's Road Home

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jun 5, 2007

Louisiana should tap into a $1.2-billion state surplus to fund a projected $5-billion shortfall in The Road Home program, the Citizens Road Home Action Team said Tuesday.

CHAT, a grassroots group that has tried to improve The Road Home, wants citizens to "e-mail or call the governor, her administrative commissioner, and Louisiana's state senators requesting they contribute some of the state's budget surplus to the Road Home Program so that the U.S. Congress can justify funding the rest of the RHP funding shortfall."

In a mass e-mail Tuesday, CHAT sent the e-mail addresses of state leaders and Senators and a version of a letter that citizens can send.

"Louisiana should contribute a significant portion of its budget surplus to the Road Home Program," CHAT said. "The U.S. Congress is very unlikely to fund the Road Home shortfall unless our state contributes some of its budget surplus to the program. Most of the budget surplus exists because (hurricanes) Katrina and Rita caused so much damage to property owners residing in south Louisiana. Shifting funds away from other much needed recovery funding sources hinders our region's recovery. Our state government should not hold damaged homeowners hostage to politics."