Louisiana Treasurer hospitalized, bond commission meeting will proceed

Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder, who chairs the state bond commission, has been hospitalized with breathing difficulties after testing positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Schroder, 59, tested positive shortly before Thanksgiving and recently required treatment, Treasury spokeswoman Michelle Millhollon said late Thursday.

The bond commission is slated to meet Dec. 17. The meeting will take place even if Schroder can't attend, according to Millhollon.

"He is responding well. He is comfortable and he is texting up a storm," Millhollon said in a statement.

Schroder wanted to tell the public about his condition, she said, because he had to cancel meetings and step away from overseeing the $262.3 million Main Street Recovery Program offering small businesses stimulus funding.

"He encourages everyone to protect themselves as best they can from this virus and hopes to be back at the state capitol by the first of the year," Millhollon said.

Like most of the country, Louisiana is seeing a sharp uptick in new cases of the highly contagious respiratory disease. The state is now in its third surge since the virus was first detected early this year.

The Louisiana Department of Health reported on its COVID-19 dashboard Friday that the state had 2,774 new daily positive cases of the virus for a total of 244,078. Another 23 deaths brought the total fatalities to 6,524.

Some 1,325 people were in hospitals with the virus and 142 were on ventilators as of Friday.

Schroder became treasurer in December 2017 after winning a runoff election with 56% of the vote. He resigned his seat in the state House to complete the remaining two years of now U.S. Sen. John Kennedy’s term as treasurer.

Schroder, a conservative Republican from St. Tammany Parish, won a full four-year term in 2019.

"Treasurer Schroder is responding favorably to treatment and is experiencing little discomfort," Millhollon said. "He is in contact with Treasury staff via email and phone to maintain the department’s programs."

The state Treasury’s Main Street Recovery Program website says available funds have been obligated and the department stopped taking applications on Sept. 29.

The Treasury said 16,553 applications had been approved or paid through Nov. 2, with the average award being $12,184.

Schroder’s office said the Main Street program had awarded more than $155 million to businesses by Nov. 20, four times the amount of grants required by the state law that made the appropriation.