U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) said he secured $575 million in funding for two critical flood mitigation projects in Louisiana as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Graves’ provisions in the package of appropriations bills reallocate resiliency funding that he previously secured for the Comite Flood Control Project in Baton Rouge and the West Shore Hurricane Protection Project in the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and redirect them to be used for project construction.
“Since both of these projects have been funded – multiple times – we have seen the costs continue to significantly balloon. It’s not fair to burden folks at home with higher insurance premiums, taxes, and risk of flooding because the project costs have now tripled or more,” Rep. Graves said.
The reallocated spending ensures the nearly $1 billion Comite Project is fully funded, the congressman said, adding, “We will continue to aggressively work in Congress to secure the funds needed to see the completion of West Shore Project.”
Rep. Graves has worked over the last several years to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in funds for the flood protection projects that impact his district, his office stated.
The resiliency funds are already available and serve no purpose to the communities and projects they are meant for if the projects are not finished, Rep. Graves said, adding that redirecting funds to continue construction was the right move.