BATON ROUGE -- A Senate committee gave swift approval Thursday to a proposed "Bill of Rights" that would grant sweeping new benefits for Road Home applicants who assert that the contractors running the homeowner grant program are not following the policies set by the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

Senate Bill 740 by Sen. Derrick Shepherd, D-New Orleans, would guarantee appeals to anyone who has applied for the program, regardless of whether they already have closed, lost appeals or have a pending dispute. The measure also would protect applicants from having to pay back any overpaid grants if the errors are the responsibility of Road Home authorities.

The bulk of the bill, however, would set in statute several requirements that already are in Road Home's written policies for applicants, principally that homeowners get all decisions in writing and have access to all records in their files as they pursue appeals.

"This is the last chance, we think, to address unjust actions for applicants," said Melanie Ehrlich, co-chairwoman of the Citizens' Road Home Action Team, called CHAT. "There are people who didn't understand the appeals process. . . . There are so many people who have been left to drift because of shortchanged grants."

The unanimous approval of the Senate Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs comes as LRA leaders work separately with other state officials and ICF International, the private contractor running the Road Home, on a revised appeals policy and a formal process regarding overpayments.

LRA Executive Director Paul Rainwater said earlier this week that he will unveil those administrative changes at the May 16 meeting of the Legislature's Joint Committee on the Budget.

Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman for LRA, said Thursday, "We agree in sentiment with many of the principles included in Senator Shepherd's legislation, including access to information and fairness for homeowner applicants." But Stephens also noted the duplication of policies and the federal law requiring that overpayments be repaid in some form. If individuals do not pay the money back, Louisiana is left with two choices: win a waiver from federal officials or cover the gap with taxpayer money.

Stephens sounded a note of caution on another aspect of Shepherd's legislation: creating an inspector general's post exclusively for the Road Home program, noting it carries "an unknown cost to the state."

The Legislative Auditor and state inspector general already examine operations and spending of the Road Home, but Shepherd and supporters said the increased focus of a new office is justified.

The bill also suggests, but would not require, that LRA modify its policies to increase the qualification threshold of Additional Compensation Grants from 80 percent to 120 percent of the area median income, while raising the maximum amount of the grant from $50,000 to $75,000.

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Bill Barrow can be reached at bbarrow@timespicayune.com or (225) 342-5590.