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Top lawmaker calls on former Lafayette Mayor-President to withdraw bid for grant program

joel robideaux.JPG
Posted at 2:59 PM, Jun 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-24 22:33:23-04

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana House Speaker Pro Tempore Tanner Magee, R-Houma, is calling for former Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux and his partner Jason Decuir to withdraw their bid for a multi-million dollar contract to administer the $300 million in federal pandemic relief money for small businesses because both served on the legislative task force that supported the program.

The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report first reported on Monday that Robideaux and DeCuir are among those seeking the contract, which could be worth up to $15 million, or 5% of the total $300 million, from the federal CARES Act pandemic relief package.

Robideaux was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Economic Recovery Task Force in April, which helped the state with economic recovery efforts after the COVID-19 pandemic. Decuir, who is a Baton Rouge Attorney, served as the chairman of the task force.

“They should not under any circumstance be able to bid on this,” said Louisiana House Speaker Pro Tempore Tanner Magee on Twitter in response to the GBRBR report. “They should not be a part of it and should withdraw their bid.”

Earlier this month, the Louisiana Legislature approved a plan to spend $300 million in federal coronavirus aid to help small businesses recover from the outbreak, which was allocated to Louisiana by Congress to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Office of State Treasurer John Schroder, Decuir and Robideaux are among the list of 11 respondents seeking to bid on the contract. Here is the list of respondents:

  • Advantage Capital Management Corporation
  • AECOM
  • Cabildo Strategy Services LLC and Focus Strategies Louisiana LLC
  • Jason Decuir and Joel Robideaux
  • Deloitte Consulting LLP
  • Hammerman & Gainer LLC
  • HORNE
  • MLCworks
  • NewCorp Inc.
  • OpenGov
  • Postlethwaite & Netterville

The treasurer’s office has said that Schroder will have no comment on the selection process until it is completed.

KATC has reached out to Robideaux for comment.

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