Will Anyone Ask Gov. Perdue About the Missing Disaster Relief Funds?

Per the Greensboro News & Record’s Capital Beat , Gov. Perdue had this to say yesterday about the availability of recovery funds for Hurricane Irene: “We’re trying to work with (Agriculture) Commissioner Troxler as well on the agricultural losses. I believe there is a proposal that’s together about the other non-agricultural expenses. I’ve seen a lot of misinformation running – not from you all but from some of the weekly news outlets on the coast. There is money to do the match from the state for those traditionally funded losses. We intended to do that. And again, we’re working on agriculture. The agricultural losses are huge.” I’m not sure what misinformation Perdue may be referring to regarding disaster relief funds for the “non-agricutlural expenses”. However, I did point out recently that the state’s Disaster Relief Fund was raided by Perdue, former Gov. Easley and former legislative budget-writers to the tune of $65 million over the previous three years. The Fund was established explicitly to provide recovery for natural disasters, but Perdue, Easley and company seized millions from the Fund largely to help close the general operating budget gap – rather than actually make any sensible reductions to the bloated state budget. It will be very interesting to see where the funds for Hurricane Irene recovery will come from. It will also be interesting to see if any members of the media bring up the $65 million raided from the Disaster Relief Reserve Fund.