State Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle testified before the House Appropriations Committee today, along with Senator Reggie Dupre, author of SB 53 which establishes a Coastal Financing Corporation. The committee unanimously moved the bill to the full House for action.  Angelle said, "This is needed legislation directed at long-term coastal protection for our communities and citizens."  He said the Coastal Protection and Restoration Financing Corporation will diversify and reduce the state's revenue risk so that federal funding from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act can be put to optimal use on projects that will rebuild coastal Louisiana.

            While monies from the Act are totally dedicated to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund, those offshore royalty revenues funds are based on the demand for and the price of raw petroleum. The formation of a corporation will allow for a public entity, like the state's Tobacco Settlement Financing Corporation, to issue bonds and invest in the marketplace. The financing of the offshore revenues stream would, in effect, diversify the state's annual risks like interruption risk in the production and demand for oil and gas.

           Additionally, because the offshore revenues funding is incremental with the most substantial monies to be allocated in 10 years, the bill allows for leveraging that future income to address current financing of coastal restoration and protection projects set forth in the state's CPRA Master Plan.