La. Lawmaker Wants to Commemorate Katrina, Rita with Holiday

A state lawmaker from New Orleans has filed three bills that could make state holidays out of the anniversaries of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated the Louisiana coast in 2005.

The bills by Rep. Juan LaFonta, D-New Orleans, are to be considered in the regular legislative session that starts March 31.

One bill would make Aug. 29, the anniversary of Katrina, a state holiday commemorating the devastation and recovery from both hurricanes.

He also has filed a pair of bills that would designate Aug. 29 as a state holiday in memory of just Katrina and Sept. 24, the date Rita hit, as a day of commemoration for that hurricane.

LaFonta said he will leave it up to the House to decide whether the state should have one or two holidays or none at all. “There is not a day that goes by that people don’t think of them,” LaFonta said.

Information from: The Times-Picayune, www.timespicayune.com