Kentucky governor says state-run disaster relief funds can serve as model for getting aid to victims
Gov. Andy Beshear says state-run disaster relief funds that funneled millions in charitable donations to tornado- and flood-stricken Kentucky can serve as models for getting aid to storm victims
State-run disaster relief funds that funneled millions in charitable donations to tornado- and flood-stricken Kentucky can serve as models for quickly getting aid to storm victims, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday in response to an auditor's review of the programs.
The Democratic governor portrayed the findings as a vindication of how the relief funds were managed, showing that millions could be quickly and accurately doled out without lengthy application processes. Beshear set up the funds following tornadoes that ravaged parts of western Kentucky in late 2021 and massive flooding that inundated the state's Appalachian region in 2022.
The special examination of the funds by state Auditor Mike Harmon's office was released this week. It determined that inappropriate payments from the tornado relief fund amounted to a tiny fraction of the total spent through June 30 of this year. Those inappropriate payments included duplicate payments, overpayments and payments to people later deemed ineligible, the report said. The mistaken payments represented a 0.57% error rate, it said.
The majority of the mistaken payments were $1,000 secondary payments to victims. Those payments had an error rate of just over 2%, the report said.
The review of the flood relief fund found no inappropriate payments, the auditor's office said.
Those findings show that the funds are well run and the money was well spent, Beshear said Thursday. And it indicates the state's management got better with more experience, he said.
“It ought to be an approach and a
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