In a letter sent to President Joe Biden, the Jefferson Parish Council asks to forgive SBA loan debts in an effort to help residents recover quickly from Hurricane Ida.
“The purpose of this letter is to ask you and your administration to forgive any Small Business Administration (SBA) debt(s) related to Hurricanes Katrina and/or any storm-related event thereafter. As you know, Hurricane Ida devastated our region. Our citizens will no doubt have to take advantage of either the SBA loan program or other forms of lending to repair and rebuild their lives to move forward. I have met with U.S. Congressman Troy Carter who shares my concerns on this matter and is committed to working hard to have these debts forgiven”
In the letter, the council says many recipients of the Hurricane Katrina era SBA loans are on fixed incomes and social security and are struggling to repay their loans while dealing with recovery from Hurricane Ida.
The council reminded the President that in 2014 the federal government forgave $391 million in disaster loans to local governments, which equates to 95% of the Katrina-related disaster loans. It is unknown at this time if the Biden Administration will honor the parish council's request.
