BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Recovery Authority backed plans Tuesday to spend a $112 million slice of hurricane recovery aid on first responder radios, business loans and grants, fisheries equipment and local infrastructure repairs.
The money would come from flexible federal block grant aid given to the state after hurricanes Gustav and Ike struck last year — if federal officials and state lawmakers agree to the proposals unanimously approved by the LRA’s governing board.The largest portion of the recovery aid, $40 million, would go to economic development programs, while $30 million would go to small and mid-sized municipalities for repairs, drainage work and other recovery projects. More than $22 million would pay for radio and communications equipment for police and other emergency responders.