NEW ORLEANS -- State Rep. Helena Moreno thinks she might have the answer to fund a permanent Louisiana State Police presence in the French Quarter.
"It's a different way of looking at things," said Moreno, D-New Orleans.
She started looking into un-cashed, expired lottery tickets. After talking with the lottery corporation, she said she found that every year there is around $9 million in un-cashed lottery tickets in the state. That's money that would eventually go towards future prizes.
"I decided to start a bill where I'm going to amend that particular statute," Moreno said. "Grab a third of that money and have that be directed towards the state police effort."
Moreno said $2.5 to $3 million would keep nearly 25 state officers in the French Quarter.
"At the core of her concept is only keeping that which originated here, here for one of the highest priorities in the city, which is public safety," said Stephen Perry, CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.
It's an idea everyone seems to love.
"This could be the missing piece that makes the difference of creating and making permanent that relationship between NOPD and Louisiana State Police that could make our downtown, our French Quarter and every other neighborhood in New Orleans the safest it's ever been," Perry said.
Executive Director of Vieux Carre Property Owners Meg Lousteau said, "The tourism industry is the backbone of the state's economy, and the French Quarter is the epicenter of that industry, so it just makes sense for the state to help us fund the security for something that benefits the whole state."
With everyone on board with the idea, there is now fear that the entire $9 million will get swept into Gov. Bobby Jindal's plan to plug a $1.6 billion budget gap -- money that Moreno said she brought to the state's attention.
"Now we brought it to their attention, so now they're viewing it as available money," she said. "The budget's going to be presented tomorrow, so this may also be one of their solutions or a way to mitigate some of the extensive budget cuts that they will be presenting."
"Representative Moreno was the one who uncovered this possible new funding source. I would hope that people would reward her with allowing her with seeing how some of that money is directed," said Lousteau.
