[StBernard] Feds asked to assist Katrina 'repatriation'

[Westley Annis]

The Blanco administration wants the federal government to help pay the
moving expenses of displaced residents who return to hurricane-affected
areas.
 
Gov. Kathleen Blanco set aside $67.3 million for the expenses in her $29.2
billion state budget proposal.
 
The state is proposing paying 25 percent of the moving expenses, with the
federal government picking up the rest, Deputy Commissioner of
Administration  Jean Vandal told legislators in a briefing Monday.
 
Based on the administration's presentation, the federal government's share
would be about $200 million.
 
Up to $4,000 in moving costs would be allowed per family, she said.
The moving expenses are part of the governor's overall spending plan for the
state government budget year that begins July 1.
 
Rachel Rodi with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the state's
proposal still is under review.
 
It is just a request at this point, she said.
 
Vandal said the state is waiting for the go-ahead from the federal
government.
However, she said, the program could begin before the state's funding for
the new fiscal year starts flowing on July 1.
 
The state would just wait until after July 1 to process invoices for the
expenses, she said.
Vandal said the program would help move people who are now living at least
50 miles from where they lived before the 2005 hurricanes.
 
Other details were not available Monday.
 
Mark Smith with the Governor's  Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Preparedness confirmed that FEMA still has to approve the proposal.
 
 "We as a state argued that FEMA needed to pay to bring them back," Smith
said of the genesis for the idea.
 
The Blanco administration is characterizing the funding as "repatriation,"
which means a return of someone to his country of birth. 
 
Vandal said the project is important because of the scope of the disaster.
"In a normal disaster, people aren't away a year," she said.