Louisiana, Florida governors take different approach on aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's a tough time for a governor to come to Washington, hat in hand, to ask for billions of dollars for a hard-hit state, especially with Congress in the midst of election-season dysfunction and dominated by tightfisted tea party Republicans.

"What I was told to expect was that there would be a tremendous difference in the way I'm perceived than what would have happened after Katrina because even disaster recovery funding seems to be caught up in partisan gridlock, whereas that was never the case before," Edwards said in an interview.

Edwards, a first-year Democrat, has teamed up with the Pelican State's GOP-dominated delegation behind a drive to add Louisiana flood aid to a short-term, government-wide spending bill that Congress needs to pass to avoid a government shutdown in a little more than two weeks.

Another visitor, GOP Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, met with top Republicans on Zika aid on Tuesday and Wednesday — and was spitting fire at Democrats for holding up a GOP-drafted measure to fight the virus, which can cause grave birth defects and is spreading in Florida.

Edwards has a meeting with Obama on Friday after sitting down with two Cabinet members last week, including budget director Shaun Donovan, who submitted the administration's official request Tuesday evening.