Louisiana Bill Calls for Increasing, Upgrading Emergency Shelters

Louisiana should try to increase its own emergency shelter space by upgrading public buildings, like schools or government sites, so they can house hurricane evacuees, a House of Representatives committee has agreed.

Without objection, the House Judiciary Committee approved a proposal pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration as a way to save millions in evacuee transport money and to avoid the annual negotiating with other states over whether they can take in Louisiana’s evacuees.

“We need to fulfill our own responsibility before we ask others to do more,” said Rep. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, who is a co-sponsor of the measure.

The bill (Senate Bill 279) by Sen. Mike Walsworth heads next to the full House for debate. The idea is modeled on a similar Florida law. It already has approval from the Senate.

The measure would ask local emergency officials to recommend public places they think would work as shelters. The state would improve the buildings so they meet American Red Cross sheltering standards, using $7.5 million set aside in another bill to pay for building upgrades and any available federal money.

Topics Louisiana