BATON ROUGE - Governor John Bel Edwards sent President Donald Trump a letter Tuesday urging him to approve a waiver affecting thousands of flood victims in Louisiana. About 6,000 families seeking disaster grant money for home repairs under the federally funded Restore Louisiana program have been denied aid because they also qualified for federal SBA loans.

In October, Congress created a waiver to duplication of benefits that must be signed by the president. Louisiana applied for the waiver but state officials have yet to hear from the White House.

"The governor is asking for them to tell us how to implement the change in the law so we can get going," said the Director for the Office of Community Development Pat Forbes.

A spokesperson for Congressman Garrett Graves said they believe the waiver will soon be approved. The congressman plans to continue to lobby the president and address the issue at upcoming committee hearings.

So far, 15,158 Louisiana households have been approved for grants under Restore Louisiana.