BATON ROUGE -- Louisiana will receive $75 million in new federal money to pay for modular quick-assemble homes, known as "Katrina cottages," to replace the cramped FEMA trailers where many residents have lived since Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu said Thursday.

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Louisiana is projected to get one-fifth of the $400 million pool for "Katrina Cottages."

But that was far less than Louisiana had sought, and state officials said they were disappointed that Louisiana will get less than one-fifth of the $400 million pool available for the pilot program funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mississippi is expected to receive more than $280 million.

The divvying up of alternative housing money restarted complaints that Mississippi has been treated better than Louisiana in the allocation of federal hurricane recovery cash. Landrieu said FEMA was being unfair because the 2005 hurricanes destroyed more than 205,000 homes in Louisiana compared to 61,000 homes in Mississippi.

"Under FEMA's upside down decision-making, Louisiana gets the short end of the stick for alternative housing programs by almost 4-to-1, despite suffering more than three times the housing loss," Landrieu said in a statement.

More than 75,000 Louisiana residents are living in FEMA trailers, and the federal agency is spending nearly $1 million a day on additional rental assistance for Louisianians -- rental aid that has cost FEMA $3.8 billion so far, said Natalie Wyeth, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kathleen Blanco's Louisiana Recovery Authority.

"These 75,000 people are going to celebrate Christmas in FEMA trailers and FEMA villages. We are extraordinarily disappointed that more of them aren't going to benefit from this program," Wyeth said.

A FEMA spokesman wouldn't confirm how much each Gulf Coast state will receive through the pilot program or how proposals were selected, saying those details would be outlined in a teleconference Friday.

But U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., also said Mississippi was slated to receive more than $280 million for the alternative housing program, 70 percent of the money available. Landrieu said Alabama and Texas each will receive about $16 million.

The nation's five Gulf Coast states competed for the pilot program dollars to test and build alternative housing that FEMA hopes can become a model for how to provide housing after another disaster, whether it's a tornado, earthquake or hurricane. Congress earmarked the money to create the Katrina cottage program. The states submitted 29 individual plans to spend it.

Lott's office said $388 million was being split among the Gulf Coast states, and the remaining $12 million will cover administrative and other program costs.

Marie Centanni, press secretary for Blanco, said FEMA Director R. David Paulison was expected to call Blanco on Friday morning to formally notify the governor that Louisiana will receive $75 million of the pilot program funding.

Hurricane Katrina flooded and devastated most of New Orleans and many of the nearby coastal communities on Aug. 29, 2005. Hurricane Rita delivered a follow-up blow to Louisiana a month later.

Hurricane victims and local, state and federal officials have complained the dollars FEMA has spent on cramped, flimsy travel trailers could be more wisely spent on more adaptable, starter homes that disaster victims could expand and ultimately own.

Louisiana submitted six proposals for spending the alternative housing dollars. The state will administer the dollars and housing programs for any grant awards it receives.

Priority for the alternative housing in Louisiana will be given to those deemed critical to the state's hurricane recovery efforts: emergency responders, construction workers, teachers and education officials, health care employees and hotel workers and others in the hospitality industry.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)