U.S. Congressman Garret Graves's legislation to fix the flawed ‘duplication of benefits' policy passed in the U.S. House of Representatives today, along with a number of other top priorities for Louisianans addressed in HR. 4, "The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018." The bipartisan package to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration includes the Disaster Recovery Reform Act… Read more »
BATON ROUGE -- Gov. John Bel Edwards reiterated a previous request to federal officials demanding interpretation of the Duplication of Benefits penalty, one of the biggest roadblocks to Livingston Parish and other areas working to recover from the flood events of 2016.In a letter to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, Governor Edwards requested that the secretary and… Read more »
Louisiana anglers will get to fish more waters for more days than normally allowed for red snapper for the next two years under a newly approved test program.Federal officials approved Louisiana's request to oversee the snapper seasons, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said today.The Exempted Fishing Permit, or EFP, will allow the agency to oversee snapper fishing in… Read more »
Louisiana Congressmen Garret Graves and Steve Scalise issued the following statements today as the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) approved Louisiana's Gulf Exempted Fishing Permits, which signals significant commitment from the federal government to recognize the economic benefits and vitality of the recreational fishing sector in the Gulf of Mexico. The… Read more »
One year after the Great Flood of 2016, a cadre of delegates from Washington, D.C., brought HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson to little Livingston Parish to view the recovery.Well, the good doctor probably thought it was fairly little.His comments at the subsequent news conference appeared the right words to say, at the time, and he vowed that – with help from the delegates that brought… Read more »
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is making a handful of tweaks to the National Flood Insurance Program to inject more private money into the government-dominated flood insurance market.Officials at FEMA plan to loosen rules around private insurers offering their own flood policies and have taken on nearly $1.5 billion in reinsurance from more than two dozen companies to help offset… Read more »
DENHAM SPRINGS – Congressman Garret Graves on Thursday blasted the federally funded Restore Louisiana program for its sluggish award distribution for 2016 flood victims in Livingston and other parishes.The congressman made his comments during the March 29 meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Denham Springs.Restore Louisiana has doled out only $60 million of the $1.7 billion flood recovery… Read more »
After championing progress made toward improving U.S. infrastructure and the economy, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves said some areas in Congress and nationwide are "still broken"—like the growing national debt, the ongoing health care and gun debates and rampant political divisiveness, which he calls the biggest threat to our country. Graves, speaking today to the Rotary Club of Baton… Read more »
Congressman Graves recently sat down with Parish President Larry Cochran on St. Charles Parish Today television show to discuss their drainage issues, flood protection and the National Flood Insurance Program. Click here to view. Read more »
Elected officials from coastal states took disparate views over the Trump administration's proposal to open more than 90% of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to oil and natural gas exploration, which garnered more than 630,000 public comments. Most of the comments appeared to be in opposition to the draft proposed program (DPP) for the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for… Read more »
