Iowa has earned billions of federal government dollars in recent months to fight coronavirus and pay for wishes ranging from COVID-19 to temporary closed business subsidies and hand sanitist for election workers.
On Friday morning, the federal government gave Iowa $4. 26 billion or more, and the state spent $2. 81 billion. By comparison, the general state budget for the existing fiscal year is approximately $8 billion.
More than 40% of the investment, about $1. 84 billion, was used to cover the highest federal unemployment benefit percentage paid to Iowans starting in the spring, according to the Iowa pandemic recanopía website.
Of the total $4. 26 billion to date, Gov. Kim Reynolds has been guilty of sharing $1. 25 billion in Iowa through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or the CARES Act The federal allocation of $1. 250 million from Iowa is the minimum amount a state can receive. , depending on the population. States can use their investment under the CARES Act for a variety of wishes that have arisen as a result of the virus.
While Congress debated the contents of the possible coronavirus finishing package, Iowa Director of Administration Dave Roederer said state officials were treating investment for the Iowa CARES Act, which will be spent until the end of the heat year, as if it had not existed. more to come.
“It’s a vital factor,” he said, “knowing it’s money at once. “
While small businesses, farmers, and others applauded the governor’s relief, some teams questioned other coronavirus-related spending decisions through the governor. Reynolds’ approval of a $21 million contract for a new cloud computing formula for human resources and its use of 40% of the cost. $1. 25 billion to cover state unemployment accepted as true with funds to eliminate a build-up of corporate taxes have attracted criticism in particular.
Iowa Legislature Democrats lamented that lawmakers, who are drawing up Iowa’s budget, have no say in allocating funds. Joe Bolkcom of D-Iowa City criticized the governor’s spending, which he announced in stages, as “difficult to follow” and criticized the Republican-controlled legislature for being excluded from the process.
“I think the Legislature should be consulted and on the table when we communicate about spending $1. 25 billion on taxpayers’ money,” he said. “Giving the governor the only strength to make those decisions was a mistake. “
But Senator Michael Breitbach, the Strawberry Point Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he was satisfied with the governor’s handling of the process.
“I’m satisfied with the way things go, ” he said. “When (the federal government) took effect and allocated cash to the state, it said how it would be spent and as long as the governor spent it in accordance with our guidelines, I have no challenge with that.
In addition to the $1. 25 billion Iowa coronavirus assistance fund, the additional budget went directly to Iowa state departments at various federal agencies for express use. Larger organizations come with the Iowa Department of Human Services ($223 million), the Iowa Department of Education ($214 million), the Iowa Department of Public Health ($129 million) and the Iowa Department of Transportation ($33 million).
As Iowa departments and agencies continue to budget and spend funds, here are some of the key tactics to use:
Record unemployment claims due to the virus taxed the Iowa Unemployment Trust Fund, reducing it from about $1. 2 billion at the end of February to approximately $735 million at the end of June.
To shore up the balance, Reynolds sent $ 490 million, representing roughly 40% of Iowa’s general coronavirus relief fund, to state unemployment that is accepted as true with the fund in July. on Iowa Business Unemployment to help complete the fund.
But Peter Fisher, chief thinks of Common Good Iowa, a public policy study group, said the investment may also have been spent more elsewhere. Fisher said Iowa had the option to get a loan from the U. S. Department of Labor. But it’s not the first time That I wouldn’t rate interest for two years. At that point, Iowa would possibly have raised enough of its acceptance as true with funds to avoid raising taxes, he said.
“It’s not even transparent that (the unemployment tax) would never have gone up, and it wouldn’t have gone up immediately, anyway, to obstruct recovery if we had taken credit for this interest-free loan from the federal government,” he said. And that is the challenge we have, because there are many urgent needs. “
Other states, besides California, have used loans from the U. S. Department of Labor. But it’s not the first time To help fund her acceptance as true with funds, but Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend told the Record in July that Iowa would not resort to that option.
Iowa is not the only state that uses its coronavirus aid fund to help pay unemployment benefits, but at least seven other states have used part of their federal coronavirus cash to strengthen their acceptance of unemployment as true with funds, according to Pew Charitable Trusts.
“The governor sought to make sure there wasn’t a tax increase, which is why many states use cash for that purpose,” Roederer said.
In Iowa, the finances of cities and counties have been affected by the slowdown in tourism and the retail industry due to the virus. Reynolds announced on August 4 that he would allocate $125 million in investment under the Iowa CARES Act to local governments to cover coronavirus costs. , such as non-public protective equipment, fans, verification kits, disinfectants, quarantine sites and emergency personnel.
Reynolds plans to split $100 million between eligible cities and population-based counties, while the remaining $25 million will cover cities with the local investment required through the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
The deadline for the first of the programs is September 15.
In May, the Iowa Department of Education announced that it would distribute $71. 6 million in federal investment to Iowa school districts and state-level school efforts. Each of Iowa’s 327 school districts earned some of the investment to cope with coronavirus desires, such as e-learning. , generation services and intellectual aptitude.
On August 7, the Iowa Department of Education announced that it would allocate an additional $26. 2 million in the federal budget to schools to build Internet connectivity for students. Each public and private school district won a portion of the funds. Iowa schools and universities also earned about $6. 9 million in funding.
The state receives another $17. 7 million federal grant from the U. S. Department of Education. But it’s not the first time To expand a virtual learning environment called Iowa e-Learning Central.
Reynolds announced on August 25 that he would supply $100 million to Iowa farmers and the ethanol and biodiesel industry.
Of the $100 million, Reynolds has allocated $60 million to the Iowa Livestock Producers’ Aid Fund, which will award grants of up to $10,000 to farmers, and another $15. 5 million will go to the national biofuel subsidies program for ethanol and biodiesel producers.
Up to $9 million will move to the Iowa Elimination Assistance Program, which is helping manufacturers who have had to destroy livestock when giant meat packing plants across the state temporarily shut down due to virus outbreaks.
As businesses across the state closed due to the pandemic, Reynolds allocated $ 94 million to a small business aid grant program that provided $ 5,000 to $ 25,000 to small businesses in Iowa. This investment dried up after that more corporations submitted programs than they had funds.
But Reynolds announced Wednesday that he would create an extension of the subsidy program, particularly to bars he needed to close on August 27 in six high-tech Iowa counties.
Reynolds has allocated another $5 million to fund the CARES Act for the program. Bars, taverns, breweries, distilleries, wineries and other eligible authorized institutions would possibly get $10,000 in grants under the program. Economic Development Authority website.
Reynolds has committed $91 million for generation upgrades in the state, adding $50 million in broadband grants to the growing number of Iowans who rely on broadband for remote work, distance education, and telehealth.
The remaining $41 million went to state-level generation upgrades. Updates come with a $21 million contract for a new vendor for the state’s budget, accounting, and human resources system.
The contract signed through Workday Inc. An investigation through Cedar Rapids Gazette revealed in February that the government had decided on the company without going through the classic bidding process. The investigation also revealed that the Workday lobvialist was a former Reynolds staff leader, but Reynolds’ workplace said he played no role in getting the contract.
Parliament financed the contract in this fiscal year’s budget, which lawmakers maintained mainly in the prestige quo due to the effect of coronavirus on government revenue.
Rep. Chris Hall, a senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said he thought the contract made sense as an expense incurred through the pandemic.
“Honestly, I don’t see how the governor can justify the start-up of a software contract in the (data director’s) when that $21 million can simply provide PPE to teachers or provide a higher point of security at our universities right now,” says Hall of Sioux City.
But Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett told the Gazette in August that the new formula would be an integral component of the state’s reaction to coronavirus by helping key government painters with a variety of desires and helping with paintings and remote budgets. Garrett didn’t respond to a request, to receive feedback from the Des Moines Registry.
In addition to the Workday contract, the state also allocated $7. 1 million to “develop citizens’ virtual access to government services” and $13 million for “the design and progression of precedence knowledge flows” to assist in long-term analysis. Reynolds’ workplace did not respond without delay to a request for additional data on those projects.
Reynolds announced in July that he would send $50 million in a coronavirus aid budget to satisfy the highest desires of Iowa’s intellectual fitness resources. Of these funds, $30 million will go to the 14 state regions of intellectual aptitude and disability for continuous and superior desires. $20 million is helping providers of intellectual fitness and addiction services address emerging costs.
Another $30 million was provided to Medicaid hosting providers to facilitate patient access.
In April, Reynolds announced that Iowa had used federal investment to rent a personal corporation organization to implement a new coronavirus test formula called the Iowa Test.
The $26 million contract includes the Test Iowa website, which questions about Iowa varieties and helps them make an appointment.
Garrett said Wednesday that about 205,000 of the s had been made. Iowa will get a total of 540,000 kits.
Reynolds said at a news convention Wednesday that the Iowa Department of Public Health has more federal budgets that it can use to renew the contract or acquire evidence, if necessary, once the contract expires.
Last May, when he legalized the expiration of the Iowa moratorium on maximum evictions, Reynolds used $22 million of investment to initiate the Iowa Mortgage Deportation and Enforcement Prevention Program, a professional rental assistance and loans program for Iowa residents.
The criteria had limitations: Iowans may simply not get the additional $600 according to the week in federal unemployment benefits and had to show a documented loss of coronavirus-like source of income.
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The additional $600 consistent with the week in federal unemployment benefits expired in late July, opening the program to many other people who were not eligible in the past. As of Thursday, 3,356 tenants and 115 landlords had gained assistance under the program, totaling more than $8. 5 million in benefits.
Iowans also announced Thursday that it would begin paying Iowans who lost their jobs another $ 300 in federal unemployment benefits, but Iowans who get that cash will be disqualified from receiving rental assistance or a loan through the program. state, said Iowa Financial Authority spokeswoman Ashley Jared. in an email.
Other primary expenses sent to Iowa departments and the state’s Coronavirus Assistance Fund include:
Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines registry. Contact him at irichardson@registermedia. com, 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.
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