The federal government is going to pay 90 percent of the cleanup costs in Joplin. But that still leaves millions of dollars for the state to pay and the state doesn’t have any money stashed away or just laying around that it can spend on disaster relief. The governor already has said he’s going to have to withhold about thirty million dollars or more to keep the state budget in balance after the new fiscal year starts a month from today. .
Governor Nixon already has pledged 25-million state dollars for tornado relief in Joplin. But spokesman Scott Holste says a lot more might be needed. “There are some significant costs that are associated with disaster,” he says.
It’s not just Joplin needing disaster recovery funds. Sedalia took a pretty good hit last week and other cities have incurred tornado damage, either in conjunction with the storm system that ravaged Joplin or in storms since then.
Listen to interview with Scott Holste Approx 4:40 mp3
