Press Release Archive
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Governor Culver Eases Rules For Flood-Damaged Homeowners
Calls on Legislature to pass IJOBS Plan to further recovery efforts.
IOWA CITY – Governor Chet Culver signed legislation today to help Iowa homeowners affected by last year’s flood. Senate File 289 reduces the amount of time, from 10 years to 5 years, state-funded Jumpstart Iowa recipients must stay in their homes before their entire Jumpstart loan is forgiven.
“Last fall, when so many Iowans were struggling to recover from the floods and storms of 2008, state government took steps to help rebuild our state by creating the Jumpstart Iowa program, which included millions of dollars to help homeowners get back on their feet,” said Governor Culver. “With my signature, we are easing the administrative process on families and homeowners – to make this program more user-friendly, and to reduce the burdens loan recipients face. This is one of many steps we’ve collectively taken to rebuild Iowa and to help our state come out of the disaster of 2008 safer, stronger, and better.”
In September, Governor Culver created the Jumpstart Program to help home and business owners affected by last year’s flooding and severe weather. One of the first major steps the State took to help homeowners and small businesses hurt by last year’s floods was to create the Jumpstart Business and Housing Initiative. Among Iowa’s small businesses, a total of 1,064 have applied for the program. 856 have been approved for Jumpstart assistance, and 677 have already received a check.
The second component – the Jumpstart Housing Program – provided homeowners 10 year forgivable loans for repairing their damaged structure or purchasing a new house; to date, a total of 2,471 homeowners have been approved for help. Jumpstart has obligated a total of $42.7 million, with an average award of $17,263 to Iowa homeowners. Under SF 289, Governor Culver and the legislature are helping homeowners by reducing the terms of these forgivable loans to 5 years. The legislation was passed unanimously by the House and Senate.
“Though this bill will help thousands of Iowans, our work is not done,” the Governor said. “As you know, we’re fighting on two fronts – in addition to the storms of 2008, there’s an economic storm too. We’re in the middle of a national recession, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. But I’m here to tell you –I believe we can work our way out of this recession by creating and retaining thousands of jobs through investment in Iowa’s aging infrastructure. That is why I am calling on the legislature to pass the IJOBS plan before adjourning in the coming days. This plan will help all corners of our state, especially those areas affected by the floods and storms of 2008. We can, and will, rebuild this state, and we can do it sooner with the IJOBS plan.”
During his Condition of the State address, Governor Culver called on the legislature to pass a bonding initiative that would provide much needed infrastructure dollars for Iowa’s communities. In March, the Governor formally unveiled the IJOBS Plan, a $750 million infrastructure investment initiative that includes $150 million for disaster impacted communities across the state. IJOBS is expected to create thousands of good-paying jobs for Iowans while rebuilding and revitalizing Iowa’s communities.
Today’s bill signing ceremony will be the second time this year Governor Culver has done work from Iowa’s Old Capitol. In March, the Governor held a community meeting on flood-related issues in the old Senate Chambers and signed a proclamation declaring Flood Awareness Month, the first time a sitting Governor used the old Governor’s Office in more than 150 years.