Go MA?

I wonder what CT, one of the richest states in the country, will be doing to help out. So far I've not seen much. In this case, I hope the state government proves me wrong.

From the Boston Globe
2,500 Katrina evacuees headed to Cape base
Romney says state is happy to provide help
By Michael Levenson and Lisa Wangsness
Globe Correspondent And Globe Staff
September 5, 2005

About 2,500 evacuees displaced by Hurricane Katrina will be flown from the Gulf Coast to Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod by Wednesday and given food, clothing, medical care, cash, and housing at Camp Edwards for the next 30-60 days in a massive undertaking announced yesterday by Governor Mitt Romney and the Massachusetts National Guard.

Arriving in some cases with little more than the clothes they are wearing, the evacuees will come to a sprawling military base that includes sleeping quarters, a movie theater, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, and an unoccupied school that Romney said made it an ideal location to help the evacuees recuperate.

The operation is part of a nationwide effort by states to share the burden of sheltering the tens of thousands of residents displaced by Katrina, many of whom have been living in increasingly cramped quarters at the Houston Astrodome and other shelters across the Gulf Coast. The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked Massachusetts to take the evacuees in a conference call with state officials yesterday.

....

Romney said he had no estimate of the cost of the operation. He said he had spoken yesterday with Senate President Robert E. Travaglini and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, who both ''were quick to say, 'Governor, whatever it costs, we're there,' " Romney said. FEMA would pay the bulk of the costs, he said. The state also has a surplus of $600 million to $800 million, some of which could be spent on the operation, he said.