Flooding, Hazard Mitigation, & Managing Water in a Changing Climate

Through her position on the Ways & Means Committee, Rep. Landry secured $9 million in funding for a drainage project in Hollygrove, the Monticello Canal Culverts at Airline Highway.

Oysters are one of our favorite natural assets. Mandie passed legislation - “the happiest little bill” - to financially support an oyster-focused coastal restoration program run by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. The TP also reported on this favorably - on the front page of the paper.  HB 255 creates a tax credit for restaurants that recycle oyster shells that would otherwise be discarded.  The bill incentivizes Louisiana restaurants to recycle oyster shell by providing a tax credit of $1 per 50 pounds of shell they recycle, in order to offset the costs associated with joining shell recycling efforts.  Oyster reefs slow coastal erosion, create habitats for new oysters to grow, and help to absorb storm surge during hurricanes and tropical storms.

In 2022, Rep. Landry set up the Hazard Mitigation Loan Fund. This fund, financed with federal dollars, will be available for both home elevations for homeowners and public flood control projects. It does not count as a duplication of federal benefits (meaning, it can be used for your personal match, if required). 

Rep. Landry also passed HB 160, which provides protections to tenants facing eviction after a natural disaster. This bill, which was featured in the Governor’s State of the State address, passed with bipartisan, unanimous support - not an easy thing to do in the Louisiana Legislature, in particular with tenant protections. Rep. Landry has filed legislation every year since being elected to enhance tenant protections.

Rep. Landry also set up a task force to examine and offer suggestions on how the New Orleans S&WB can potentially reform its current structure. The task force was created to study the over 100 years of the S&WB’s complicated existence and the twists and turns it has taken as a state entity so that we can better understand how we as a city can restructure or at least, reform this complicated entity