BDx13
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FEMA bills LA $3.7B for Kartina & Rita
Louisiana can't pay Katrina, Rita bills
By Alan Levin, USA TODAYFri Nov 4, 7:49 AM ET
Flood-ravaged Louisiana can't pay the $3.7 billion that the U.S. government says is its share of hurricane relief, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kathleen
Blanco said Thursday.
"You can't squeeze $3.7 billion out of this state to pay this bill. Period. That would be difficult for us on a good day," the spokeswoman, Denise
Bottcher, told USA TODAY.
Staffers for the governor "about fell over" Wednesday night when they received the Federal Emergency Management Agency's estimate of the state's costs
for hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said Mark Merritt, a consultant working for Blanco.
FEMA projects that it will spend a total of $41.4 billion in Louisiana, about $9,000 per resident. Federal law requires state and local governments to
pay a portion of disaster relief costs. That share can be as much as 25%. The $3.7 billion estimate is roughly 9% of FEMA's projected costs in
Louisiana.
The $3.7 billion represents just under half of the $8 billion the state spends per year and comes as the extensive flooding around New Orleans has
severely undercut tax revenue. The state is in the midst of heavy cost-cutting to whittle down a projected $1 billion shortfall.
Congress would have to enact legislation to forgive Louisiana's debt, FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews said. President Bush has waived certain state and
local costs, such as debris removal, but he is bound by law to collect the $3.7 billion from Louisiana, she said.
Mississippi and Texas, also hit hard by this year's hurricanes, have not received FEMA's projected costs.
The issue of a state's obligation to pay disaster relief costs occasionally creates controversy. On rare occasions, FEMA has threatened to report
local governments to the U.S. Justice Department because federal money wasn't reimbursed.
The bulk of the money Louisiana must pay will go toward paying for personal property lost in the storms. FEMA pays up to $26,200 per household for
uninsured losses. Blanco's office estimates that 60,000 households in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish alone will qualify for the payments. FEMA
this week began notifying people that they will receive money.
Merritt is a former FEMA official who now works with former FEMA director James Lee Witt, an adviser to Blanco on hurricane recovery. Merritt said the
scope of the disaster far exceeded anything envisioned when the relief agency was created. He called the costs "astronomically unprecedented."
Before Hurricane Katrina, the largest FEMA disaster was the Sept. 11 attacks. FEMA spent $8.8 billion for relief in New York after Sept. 11, which
equaled less than $500 per resident of the metro area, Merritt said.
"A disaster of this magnitude ... has never happened on this scale in U.S. history," Merritt said.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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BDx13
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between the size of this bill and all of the poor people, bush will probably try to give Louisiana back to the French.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
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Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
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hahahahaa. Can you imagine? It would a another Louisiana purchase. Fucker would probably sell it to some rich bastard frined who rents everything to
poor people and puts them in more debt. FUCK THIS PRESIDENT AND THE ECONOMICS OF TODAY!
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CR83
Moderator
Posts: 5221
Registered: 1-23-2004
Location: STL!
Member Is Offline
Mood: Harm's Way
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| Quote: | Originally posted by clevohardcore
hahahahaa. Can you imagine? It would a another Louisiana purchase. Fucker would probably sell it to some rich bastard frined who rents everything to
poor people and puts them in more debt. FUCK THIS PRESIDENT AND THE ECONOMICS OF TODAY! |
Get'em Clevo! Good job Bud.
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