WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced today that the State of Iowa will receive an additional $8,040,652 in 2008 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster dollars from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The funding can be used to assist Iowans still struggling to rebuild their homes and businesses, as well as for general economic recovery purposes in the wake of 2008's natural disasters. Today's funding comes in addition to the $84,126,989 that was announced in August, bringing the total CDBG dollars for Iowa to $92,167,641. Nationwide a total of $311 million was allocated - close to 30 percent of which went to Iowa - based on mitigation efforts using CDBG disaster resources in various 2008 disaster impacted states. As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Harkin led the fight to have these funds appropriated in the months after the 2008 floods and tornados and he successfully worked to avoid having the whole $311 million pot of funds rescinded in mid 2010.
"In the time since the floods of 2008, Iowans have shown their perseverance and have made great strides to rebuild our state. There is, however, still more to do," said Harkin. "I am pleased that what seems like a technical recalculation at the federal level means real, tangible funding for Iowa's rebuilding efforts. With this kind of federal support and the 'can do' attitude of our state, we will rebuild an even brighter future for Iowa."
This additional funding became available because of a recalculation of the amount of CDBG resources allocated to mitigation, resulting in Iowa's proportion of the total mitigation effort increasing. Of the $6.1 billion in CDBG disaster funding appropriated in September 2008 for 2008 disasters, $311 million was put aside by HUD for this mitigation allocation.