Louisiana Got "Shortchanged" On Federal Recovery Money

"A new report by two independent policy research groups backs up Louisiana's long-held contention that the state got shortchanged on federal recovery money in comparison with Mississippi, which suffered far less damage.

"The amount of federal aid provided to Mississippi and Louisiana is not proportional to the amount of damage each state suffered," concluded the report released this week by GulfGov Reports, a joint project of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, N.Y., and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana.

The GulfGov project, financed by a $900,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, is independent and represents stakeholders in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Still, the report's findings on the distribution of federal housing recovery money come down solidly on the side of Louisiana in an argument that has angered Mississippi officials and drawn a rebuke from the White House." |Read more|