Governor Chet Culver met with the new director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week. According to Culver, the FEMA director told him Iowa is in a "good position" to qualify for more federal disaster aide.
Culver says some of the "I-JOBS" money the state borrowed to finance infrastructure projects may be used to cover the small state and local government payments required to qualify for some FEMA grants.
"That’ll mean more jobs and in all likelihood a faster recovery because we’ll have more access to federal money as a result," Culver says.
The FEMA director is among those who’ve met with governors who are at the National Governors Association meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi. Culver says FEMA’s grant application process is "complex," but he’s optimistic the state will get more FEMA money for flood recovery.
"We have about 8000 to 10,000 public infrastructure projects that FEMA will pay for, in whole or in part," Culver says.
Culver invited FEMA director Craig Fugate to Iowa to tour areas which were flooded a year ago and which still need attention more than a year later.