Graves Announces $13 Million from HUD for Louisiana Recovery

Congressman Garret Graves announced today that the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will allocate $13 million of "sanction funds" to aid Baton Rouge and Lafayette recovery efforts after a conversation he had with HUD Secretary Julian Castro. Sanction funds are unexpended dollars recuperated from HUD grantees by the agency. Such funds are pooled and reallocated to communities impacted by a Stafford Act event.

"For weeks, we've been in constant contact with HUD, FEMA and other federal agencies educating them about the scale of this disaster and working to identify opportunities like this one to redirect resources to the tens of thousands of Louisianans who so badly need help in their fight to recover from the August flood," said Graves. "Every bit of assistance helps, and we're urging the state to allocate these resources directly to the impacted parishes to ensure the money goes to where it is needed most. I want to thank Secretary Castro for his ongong support of recovery efforts in Louisiana."

Sanction funds can be used for infrastructure needs, small business and economic development needs, and even individual homeowner needs. In the conversation with Graves, Secretary Castro indicated all $13 million of the department's sanction funds are directed to Baton Rouge and Lafayette, which are Entitlement Communities.

As Entitlement Communities, these cities receive direct funding from HUD. They are the only two Entitlement Communities in the impact area.

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