FEMA Awards $78 million to Iowa for COVID-19 Response

On Thursday FEMA announced that the  Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has obligated $78 million to the State of Iowa to help reimburse eligible expenses for emergency protective measures that the state has incurred as a result of its response to COVID-19.

You may be wondering what this means.Well the money reimburses 75% of projected eligible costs associated with buying essential Personal Protective Equipment, and medical supplies along with equipment during the months of May and June 2020.

The supplies that this money goes towards includes medical gowns, surgical masks, face shields, safety glasses and gloves, disinfectant, respirators and viral swab collections kits, etc.

In addition to the $78 million, FEMA has obligated the following money for Iowa:

• $44 million to reimburse eligible costs for buying essential PPE, medical supplies and equipment for March and April
• $4 million to reimburse state administrative costs associated with COVID-19 response
• $17 million to pay costs associated with the deployment of Iowa National Guard members deployed under Title 32 authorities
• $4.2 million to the Veterans Health Administration to pay for use of up to 20 beds at VA facilities and to pay for extra nursing care at state veteran’s facility

Many people were excited to see this. These reimbursements can play a critical role in helping local, state and tribal officials assist their communities during this response. It gives a lot of hope to places here in Iowa that really needed the help.

The disaster declaration also authorizes Direct Federal Assistance to help governmental entities and tribal nations with certain COVID-related actions that the states, localities and tribes themselves cannot undertake at this time.