Gov. seeks $800M for Katrina housing - The Clarion-Ledger

Gov. seeks $800M for Katrina housing - The Clarion-Ledger: "WASHINGTON — Gov. Haley Barbour has asked the federal government for more than $800 million to carry out the second phase of a housing program aimed at helping Hurricane Katrina's victims.

The money would help flood victims who do not qualify for a current grant program, said Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesman Brian Sullivan.

Barbour has secured billions of dollars from HUD to give grants to homeowners outside flood plains whose homes were destroyed by Katrina's floodwaters. Those who live in a flood plain but were uninsured were barred from the current program. The governor wants to start a new program to help them."

What the?? What exactly have they done with the first $5.1 billion from the emergency spending bill? I seem to recall about $3.4 billion being allotted for the homeowner grant program originally... But since we keep hearing about 16,500 applicants for the first program which promises no more than 150,000 per household... That would come to roughly $2.4 billion.

Having a billion left would seem like a good starting point. But of course, our governor has already told us that the average grant amount is actually around $80,000. This would bring the total allotted for the first grant program to around $1.3 billion.

So that would actually leave a good $2 billion for the next 'phase'.

All of this is assuming that I totally misunderstood the last article I read which stated that 8,000 people who applied for the first grant program did not qualify. I uhm.. was thinking that since the 16,500 figure refers specifically to 'applicants' that when someone refers to people who 'applied for the grant and did not qualify' that there is the possibility that those 8,000 folks are to be subtracted from the final tally. Obviously, if that were true -- the state would be saving even more money.

From my own blog entry dated August 5, 2006 -- I quoted an article from gulfcoastnews.com as follows:

"Meanwhile, the state has said that they would use whatever is left of the money from the grant program to help Katrina-devastated cities. Money that would help them pay local matching money to received federal reconstruction grants."

Er... if they're expecting money to be 'left over' to pass out to the municipalities -- then exactly why is it that Mr. Barbour's holding out the tin cup again?

Maybe it's late and I've baked too many cupcakes for my own good. I'll go sleep now and hope when I wake up that Toto and I are safe and sound in our big fluffy bed and it was all just a bad knock-on-the-head-induced bad dream.

Goodnight, Auntie Em.