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Article published: Jul 2, 2009 FEMA to pick up more Ike costs
Louisiana won't have to pick up a share of the cost for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's immediate response and recovery operations after Hurricane Ike.
Gov. Bobby Jindal's office said that will save state and local governments an estimated $15 million to $20 million.
Language added to a spending bill recently passed by Congress required FEMA to drop the requirement that state and local agencies pay a share of the Ike emergency response work and debris removal after the September storm.
FEMA will pay those full costs and will cover 90 percent of the costs of permanent rebuilding work and other types of hurricane assistance from Ike, with state and local agencies required to cover the remaining 10 percent.
The treatment is different for Hurricane Gustav, which also struck last September. FEMA is covering 90 percent of all Gustav recovery efforts, including the immediate emergency response work and debris removal.
"Our state and local agencies still face more than $100 million in matching costs for the response and recovery from hurricanes Gustav and Ike," Jindal said in a statement.
Louisiana officials have continued to ask the federal government to pick up all the costs of federal recovery efforts tied to Gustav and Ike.