BATON ROUGE — Rep. Garret Graves and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise introduced legislation Friday to add Terrebonne Parish to the Delta Regional Authority.

First established in 2000, DRA is a collaboration of the eight states along the lower Mississippi River that promotes economic development and community resiliency in America's Delta Region. Adding Terrebonne to the DRA will serve as a catalyst to increase federal investment in other areas, including workforce training, healthcare care access and to develop strong and sustainable jobs in south Louisiana

"Terrebonne Parish is already a great place to live, work and raise a family. That's why we've busted our tail to get record funding for the Morganza to the Gulf project to protect Terrebonne and fight every day to secure federal hurricane disaster funds to rebuild Terrebonne. Adding Terrebonne Parish as a member of the Delta Regional Authority means parish elected and economic leaders can take the reins and grow jobs and the economy for Terrebonne's future," Graves said.

The DRA has supported 73 projects in Louisiana over the past four years, resulting in an additional 2,364 jobs