(Des Moines) Governor Kim Reynolds announced at her press conference this morning $125-million in Federal CARES dollars will be allocated to help local governments for direct expenses incurred in response to COVID-19.
Reynolds said $100-million in reimbursement will be divided between eligible cities and counties; 60-percent will go to cities, 40-percent to counties based on their population using the 2019 census data. The remaining $25-million will be used to cover local government’s match requirements for FEMA. Any unused funds will be reallocated to local governments on the percentages listed above.
Reynolds said the Federal CARES Act established the $150-billion Coronavirus Relief Fund to help states, local and tribal governments navigate the impact of the pandemic. Iowa’s allocation from that appropriation was $1.25 billion. She said allocations have included relief to Iowa families and businesses, relief for Iowa farmers, expanding access to telework, telehealth and tele-learning with broadband expansion, and relief to Iowa Healthcare Providers including $30-million to the mental health regions.
