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Rethink rules on disaster aid spending

Perhaps if local and state governments had just been less thrifty in their response to the massive snowstorm that hit much of West Virginia in January, Uncle Sam would have been more charitable toward the state.

Mountain State officials had sought disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help defray what government spent to help W.Va. residents cope with the storm and to recover from it. But this week it was revealed FEMA has turned the state down.

It seems that West Virginia officials were able to trace only about $1.3 million in local and state spending related to the storm. FEMA requires $2.7 million before disaster relief funds can be considered.

Obviously, the federal agency has to enforce some requirements for disaster aid. Washington’s resources are limited, after all, though one perusing readily available reports on government waste might not understand that.

Saying no to assistance simply because local and state governments did not spend enough seems like an open invitation for the kind of rampant waste seen often in disaster relief programs in other states, however.

FEMA should reconsider its guidelines – perhaps to provide some incentive for frugality such as that insisted on in West Virginia.

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