R. Reese Fuller

Confusion costs state about $7 million

by R. Reese Fuller

The Times-Picayune reports that the confusion over Louisiana's emergency food stamp program after hurricanes Gustav and Ike may have cost the state some $7 million. The chief operating officer of the Washington contractor OK's Cascade Co. which aided the Louisiana Department of Social Services with the program, says its charge of $23.7 million could have been far less if the state had been better organized in its implementation of the program.