Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Malone Seeking Funding

At the urging of State Sen. Percy Malone of Arkadelphia a panel of influential legislators has officially requested the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide 100 percent of the necessary funding for cleanup in regions that have been declared disaster areas after the two recent ice storms.

The Joint Budget Committee and the Legislative Council, two of the most powerful legislative committees, in a joint meeting adopted a resolution written by Malone.

Malone noted that some local governments do not have enough money available to provide the required local match in order to qualify for FEMA cleanup funding.

Malone's resolution requests FEMA to waive its matching fund requirements and provide 100 percent of funding for cleanup in those areas that have been declared a disaster area by President Clinton. The president's declaration entitles those hard hit areas to receive assistance from FEMA.

"The people of my Senate district got hit as hard as anybody by the freezing rain and winter storms," Malone said. "It would be cruelly unfair to use a technical loophole as a pretext for withholding much needed funding from the people who have suffered the most."

Malone represents District 3, which is made up of Nevada County and parts of Ouachita, Clark and Columbia Counties.