Louisiana flood recovery deal scrapped, amid conflict claims

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has voided a planned flood recovery contract intended to help victims of the 2016 floods with home rebuilding work or buyouts.

Louisiana's chief procurement officer Paula Tregre says key staff involved in the deal overseen by Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration shouldn't participate because they have a conflict of interest.

Tregre rescinded the contract award May 10 and called for a new evaluation team to choose among the two other vendors who sought the work.

Among her concerns, Tregre says winning bidder Hunt Guillot and Associates intended to use a subcontractor whose key staffer was an adviser to the state disaster recovery agency as it developed the bid solicitation.

Hunt Guillot is appealing Tregre's decision and says Louisiana's ethics board cleared the subcontractor to do the new contract work.