Small Victory! Major struggle ahead - Legislators approve LRA rental program

However, this measure is only a partial victory. We still have a major fight ahead of us to ensure that a major portion of the recovery funds go directly to renters, who compose more than 60% of New Orleans population, and are directly controlled and appropriated by the masses of those displaced.

So, again thank you. We will be calling on all of you to take further actions over the course of the next several weeks and months against Governor Blanco, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the City Council of New Orleans. We will also be calling on all of you to help us build the “Where is the Money” mobilization against Governor Blanco and the Louisiana Recovery Authority on Saturday, November 18th in Baton Rogue. This mobilization is to demand:

1. That at least 20% of the LRA funds be appropriated to renter transition and recovery programs, including assistance for moving costs, deposits, and rent assistance.
2. That rent controls be implemented in all of the Hurricane affected areas of the state.
3. That rent stabilization be implemented in all of the Hurricane affected areas of the state.
4. No demolition or reduction in public housing in New Orleans. That public housing in New Orleans throughout the state be opened immediately.
5. That transitional housing be created and opened immediately.
6. That all homeowners receive full compensation for their homes, or if their homes were destroyed, be completely rebuilt by the government due to the faulty design and failure of the levees.

Update on by PeoplesHurricane.org

The state Legislature on Thursday approved a proposal by the Louisiana Recovery Authority for rebuilding rental housing, including a controversial program that would require income means testing for renters. 
A group of mostly Republican lawmakers had called on legislators to vote against the program. State Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, on Thursday asked the LRA to re-evaluate the requirements in the program. He said lawmakers had been misled into thinking that the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development had required the specific income restrictions. 
"They're hiding behind HUD, and it's not HUD's requirement to do it," Scalise said. 
The LRA recently approved several changes in a plan for using billions in federal dollars to rebuild rental housing damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Those changes were submitted to the Legislature as five separate items on a mail ballot, all of which passed. The changes now need HUD approval.

Click here to continue reading - "Legislators approve LRA rental program" by Robert Travis Scott, Times Picayune.