Iowa’s entire congressional delegation has signed on to a letter asking for a change in the way some federal disaster funds were distributed. Iowa’s two Senators and five congressmen are upset that Iowa received only $11-million in block grant funding for disaster relief out of a total of $600 million.
The Iowans say the formula used neglected Congressional intent by using the size of each state’s overall population as a major factor in determining how much money each state received, in stead of the amount of disaster damage in each state.
The Iowa delegation has signed on to a letter to former Iowa Congressman Jim Nussle, who is now the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services asking them to modify the formula used to disburse the funds. The letter says some states with little damage received relatively large amounts of money compared to that of Iowa.
It says five states for example, which had less than 1,000 claim any FEMA individual benefits, are to receive a total of over $24-million or about $7,750 per person receiving FEMA assistance. They say Iowa had nearly 40,000 applicants for FEMA assistance, making the money allocated to Iowa for each person only about $280.
The Iowa delegation asks that the two federal officials move forward to "rectify this injustice as quickly as possible," and request that they meet with the delegation as soon as possible to discuss this situation.