Friday, September 5, 2008
Governor Culver Details Plan To Deliver Additional Aid To Iowans
Governor urges U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to move funds, aggressively pursues federal government reimbursements
(DES MOINES) — Today, Governor Chet Culver detailed his plan to deliver additional aid to Iowans and local governments recovering and rebuilding from this year's storms and flooding, which devastated much of the state.
Culver outlined the following four aggressive steps that the state has taken:
- The state plans to receive $85 million in federal emergency community development block grants, which will go toward rebuilding homes, businesses and infrastructures in Iowa's communities.
- The state has identified nearly $800 million in eligible damages and has reached the damage threshold, meaning Iowa qualifies to have the federal government pay 90 percent of the costs associated with the repair or replacement of public facilities.
- Governor Culver decided that the state would cover the entire 10 percent not covered by the federal government, easing the financial burden on local governments. The State Executive Council voted last month to set aside state funds.
- Governor Culver, using his authority under state law, has held back $73 million in state appropriations this fiscal year for disaster recovery.
"My administration is doing everything that we can possibly do under state law to quickly get money into Iowans' hands so that they can start rebuilding their lives," said Governor Culver. "We've been vigilant about identifying damages and identifying federal funding to help in our recovery, and we'll soon see the results of our proactive efforts."
At Friday's press conference, Governor Culver announced that the state is poised to receive $85 million in emergency community development block grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. State officials have been working for weeks on the state's application to ensure the funds will go directly to communities and assist Iowans with their immediate and future needs.
The funding will be used to:
- rehabilitate homes damaged by the floods, making them habitable again.
- help finance construction of new multi-family housing units to provide permanent housing for those displaced by the floods.
- provide infrastructure for new housing construction sites.
- make infrastructure improvements to lessen the impacts of future flooding.
- subsidize community housing buy-out programs, enabling families to seek other housing options.
The HUD grants also include millions of dollars to help Iowa small businesses reopen their doors, and more than $20 million dollars to repair and rebuild public infrastructure like roads and utilities. The Governor said he seeks to maximize the small business portion of the grant money by adding $15 million in values fund and power fund dollars for business assistance, thus increasing the collective direct assistance package to $100 million.
But Governor Culver said this project is being held up by the failure of HUD to promptly develop rules for granting the money to Iowa. Once those federal rules are announced, he said his administration will quickly complete the process needed to get the funds flowing, providing relief to Iowans as quickly as possible.
"Iowa has a plan. HUD has the money. Now cut the red tape so Iowa can move forward," Governor Culver said.
Since the disaster began on May 25, the Culver/Judge administration has aggressively pursued federal government reimbursement for public assistance projects, identifying nearly $800 million in estimated damages. Because of this, state officials say Iowa has reached the damage threshold, qualifying it to have the federal government pay 90 percent of the costs associated with the repair and replacement of public facilities. The Governor has urged the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency to announce an official confirmation.
If the damage threshold had not been reached, the state would have assumed 25 percent of the total cost, with local governments paying 15 percent (roughly $120 million). Now that the threshold has been reached, local governments will no longer have to contribute funding, enabling them to avoid significant costs that many municipalities would not have been able to afford.
In anticipation that Iowa would reach the threshold, Governor Culver decided that the state would cover the entire 10 percent not covered by the federal government, which is the maximum amount the state can cover by law. The State Executive Council voted last month to set aside the amount of state funds in the new fiscal year (which began July 1, 2008) to cover the expected full 10 percent, relieving local governments of that burden. The Council has already approved the delivery of $37 million in assistance.
Governor Culver, using his authority under state law, held back $73 million in state appropriations this fiscal year. Culver said this action will allow the state greater flexibility to re-prioritize projects because of the needs of this record-setting disaster.
Though there is still a great deal to do, the state has already made significant progress in repairing and rebuilding its communities, including:
- All major roads and transportation systems impacted by the disaster have been reopened.
- Utilities such as power, gas, water and sewer have been restored to all structures capable of receiving them.
- Other critical services, such as police, fire, ambulance and hospitals, have been restored.
- More than $173 million in federal funds has already arrived in Iowa to be used to repair public facilities.
- More than $127 million has already been distributed to Iowans to help with their immediate housing needs.
- More than $211 million has been promised to Iowa by the Small Business Administration to help with recovery.
- The Iowa Finance Authority has announced $24 million in tax credits to help rebuild low-income housing in seven flood-ravaged counties.
- The FEMA Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) program has disbursed $500,000 to 447 applicants.
- The Iowa College Student Aid Commission is offering up to $5,000 in assistance to Iowa college students impacted by the floods.