'Somebody's gouging us': Virginia lawmakers question $60M price tag for storm response
Virginia lawmakers on Thursday sharply questioned the costs of the state’s preparations for Hurricane Florence, saying they were shocked to learn officials committed to spend up to $60 million to set up shelters and deploy response teams for a storm that ultimately veered south.
Members of Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration have stood by the decision to order the first-ever mandatory evacuations of low-lying coastal areas, saying it was a call based on scientific predictions about the potential path of a storm that had minimal impacts in Virginia but devastated eastern North Carolina.
At a Senate Finance Committee meeting in Richmond, some lawmakers demanded a more detailed accounting of costs they called “shocking.” Several Republican senators acknowledged their questions could be seen as second-guessing decisions made in crisis, but they said the price tag alone warrants further scrutiny.
As of Thursday, the state had spent roughly $44 million of the $60 million authorized.
Read more: https://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/somebody-s-gouging-us-virginia-lawmakers-question-m-price-tag/article_35080974-ec62-57f3-8d4b-2fa27ac762df.html
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