LANO Writes Testimony in Response to Senate Subcommittee Hearing on the Oil Spill

The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) has submitted written testimony to the Senate Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery to supplement today’s hearing titled, “Gulf Coast Recovery—An Examination of Claims Administration and Social Services in the Aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill”.

The purpose of the hearing was to evaluate recovery from the oil spill by reviewing progress made and challenges that remain for oil spill claims as well as nonprofit social service providers. To view a list of witnesses and read their testimony, please visit the Senate website.

At the request of the Subcommittee, LANO provided a comprehensive report to outline how nonprofits have fared since the oil spill disaster, their inability to secure a Gulf Coast Claims Facility claim award, and the overall financial needs that still exist within the sector.

The goal of LANO’s testimony was to make sure that federal policymakers understand the valuable services implemented by the sector in response to the oil spill; to outline the various financial challenges that still remain to reimburse and support nonprofit work over the long-term; and to provide our policy recommendations moving forward.

As summarized in LANO testimony, “The aftermath of the oil spill has been hard financially for the nonprofit sector and impacted the revenue stream of many organizations. Today, nonprofits are being asked to provide more services with less than adequate funding and this will not be sustainable over the long-term. In order to effectively move our sector forward we need sufficient financial support and established partnerships with all primary stakeholders in this disaster including BP, GCCF, and federal, state and local policymakers.”