LMR June 2023 FINAL

GOVERNOR’S COLUMN
Happy June, Louisiana! In last
month’s column, I spoke with
you about my priorities for the
last legislative session of my
administration and reflected
on the progress we’ve made
together in the last eight years.
This month I have several announcements
to share with
you, but I want to open with
some wonderful news for the
state of Louisiana.
New federal Bureau of Labor
Statistics data shows that
Louisiana has more people
working now than ever before.
These job numbers are
a validation of our bipartisan
work to grow and diversify
our economy. Every day I am
inspired by the talent and skill
of our people who have come
back so strongly from the
COVID-19 pandemic and two
devastating hurricane seasons
in 2020 and 2021. Thank you
for your support in growing
and sustaining our workforce.
For those Louisianans whose
homes were adversely impacted
by the 2020-21 disaster
events, I want to highlight
an opportunity for recovery
assistance. The Restore Louisiana
Homeowner Assistance
Program provides grant funding
to homeowners affected
by Hurricanes Laura, Delta,
and Ida and the May 2021 Severe
Storms for home repair,
You’ve Got to Accentuate the Positive
reconstruction and/or reimbursement
for repairs already
completed. The program also
recently expanded its phasing
criteria for homeowners to potentially
qualify for assistance,
lowering the FEMA-determined
damage threshold from
$5,000 to $3,000 and raising
the allowable maximum of insurance
received from $25,000
to $50,000. The program is administered
by the Louisiana
Office of Community Development
and funded by the U.S.
Dept. of Housing and Urban
Development. Please join me
in making those in your municipalities
aware of this opportunity
for recovery and visit
restore.la.gov for more details.
I want to let you and those
in your municipalities know
about an important mental
health resource that the Louisiana
Department of Health
launched during Mental
Health Awareness Month – the
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The Lifeline is available 24/7
to anyone in mental health
distress or who may be worried
about a loved one who
may need crisis support. 988
crisis counselors are trained to
help reduce the intensity of a
situation for the person seeking
help and connect them
to additional local resources,
as needed, to support their
wellbeing. The 988 Suicide
and Crisis Lifeline is available
to anyone in mental health
distress. If you’re depressed,
going through a hard time,
thinking about suicide or just
need to talk, 988 is for you. 988
is for all of us.
In other positive news for
our state, we announced last
Gov. John Bel Edwards
month that Conexon Connect
has been selected to deliver
high-speed fiber internet access
to over 1,500 underserved
homes and businesses across
East Carroll Parish. This is true
progress that will provide
benefits to our educational
outcomes, healthcare, economy
and much more. Working
to eliminate the digital divide
across our state with a sense of
urgency is critical to the families
and businesses of Louisiana,
and I would like to thank
the Louisiana State Office
of Broadband for helping to
bring these projects to fruition.
I’d like to close by highlighting
an opportunity for assistance
for small businesses adversely
impacted by the 2020-21 disaster
events. The Restore Louisiana
Small Business Loan Program
is a lending program to
assist disaster-impacted small
businesses with non-construction
expenses, and I encourage
all eligible businesses to take
advantage of this opportunity
to learn more and apply. Visit
restore.la.gov/SBLP for more information.
Thank you for your continued
dedication to the state of Louisiana,
and God bless.
LMR | JUNE 2023 Page 7