YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK
No funds for military families after 2 years
Program for needy launched in 2005, but not a single dollar disbursed


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Posted: March 30, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


Gov. Kathleen Blanco
Two years ago, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed off on a special taxpayer-funded assistance program for military families, but not a single dollar has been disbursed, according to the Independent Weekly of Lafayette, La.

The law gives oversight of the program – the Louisiana Military Family Assistance Fund – to the Department of Social Services, but the agency has not given out any money and missed its Jan. 1 deadline to file a report to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

The DSS still cannot point to any benchmarks or timeline for the program, the Independent Weekly reported.

The program is designed to award need-based grants to families of Louisiana National Guard and reserve forces called to active duty since 9/11 and to guard units that deployed for natural disasters such as hurricanes.

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The funds come from private sources and taxpayers who opt to designate all or part of their returns to the program, which provides emergency cash to families who have lost a source of income due to military service.

Allotments may be as small as money for rent, and larger amounts are available for casualty cases. A lump sum of $2,500 is to be offered to the families of soldiers missing or killed in action or taken prisoner.

More than 11,800 men and women are eligible for the program along with their estimated 12,000 dependents.

In 2005, Blanco described the policy package that included the program an "opportunity to add something substantial to … prayers and support." Similar initiatives are underway in at least 15 other states, modeled after a program launched by Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. The Illinois Legislature jumpstarted its program with a $5 million gift and raised an additional $1 million through taxpayer check-offs and corporate donations.

Blanco, whose leadership has been under heavy criticism since the Hurricane Katrina disaster, decided unexpectedly this month not to run for re-election.

The oversight board formed by Blanco, which is required by law, had its first meeting only this month, the Independent Weekly reported. The state treasurer's office released records saying the fund has $10,150, but board members were told at the meeting as much as $100,000 has been collected, according to Democratic state Sen. Reggie Dupre, who authored the original legislation and sits on the board. He said there may be private donations not included in that figure.

DSS spokesman Cleo Allen told the Independent Weekly he would not release any figures.

He explained the 2005 hurricanes stretched out the process longer than expected, and there was a slight hold for more money to come in.

"We did experience some delays with (hurricanes) Katrina and Rita," Allen says, "but remember that the whole point is moot without the money."

A request for comment from Blanco went unanswered.

Dupre says the oversight board will discuss at its April meeting the hiring of a third-party administrator to disburse the funds.

"We should have been done with this by at least mid-2006," Dupre says. "This just should have gotten off the ground sooner."




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