Published: May 4, 2021
By: Sydney McGovern | LSU Manship School News Service
Legislation to provide relief dollars to the logging industry in Louisiana is headed to the House floor.
House Bill 642 would create the Louisiana Loggers Relief Program to issue a total of $10 million in grants for timber harvesting and timber-hauling businesses.
House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, sponsored the measure along with co-sponsors Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, and House Appropriations Committee Chair Jerome Zeringue, R-Houma.
The House Committee on Appropriations unanimously approved the bill on Monday and could be heard on the House floor later this week.
“These businesses hadn’t been included in any of the federal agriculture relief programs that other farmers and agriculture producers had been able to utilize,” Zeringue said.
The program would be administered by the state treasurer using resources from the Louisiana Main Street Recovery Program. Funding comes from Congress’ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which provided $5.18 billion in aid to Louisiana for a variety of purposes.
Buck Vandersteen, executive director of the Louisiana Forestry Association, applauded the legislators for realizing the role that loggers play in supplying essential products to the state and country.
“It’s a good way to recognize people that often go unseen but are extremely vital,” Vandersteen said. “The governor called them essential workers, and they worked through all of COVID-19. They kept things going, and they made sure that the mills had the fiber that they needed to produce paper products and building materials.”
In December, Congress included $200 million in funding for logging businesses that suffered a loss in revenues due to the pandemic.
But Congress never specified the rules for obtaining the funds, and with the change in presidential administrations, the money was further delayed. While other agricultural industries were granted relief, logging businesses never saw federal money.
Read more at The Advocate
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 