FEMA Awards $23 Million to Kansas for COVID-19 Response

KANSAS CITY, Missouri, April 30 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the following news release:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has obligated nearly $23 million to the State of Kansas to help reimburse eligible expenses the state has incurred as a result of its response to COVID-19.

The grant funds, awarded by FEMA's Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program, were made available Wednesday, April 29 and are authorized under a major disaster declaration approved by President Trump on March 29 for the entire state. There is no need for any additional action from the State regarding this Declaration and the Federal assistance associated with it.

The money reimburses 75% of eligible costs associated with buying essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and medical supplies and equipment during the months of March and April. The supplies include medical gowns, surgical masks, face shields, safety glasses and gloves, disinfectant, respirators and viral swab collections kits. The remaining 25% is paid by the grant recipient.

"Our close partnership with the state of Kansas has been crucial during the ongoing response to COVID-19," said Paul Taylor, Administrator of FEMA Region VII. "The entire federal family will continue to push as hard as we can to assist Kansas in getting them the resources needed in our shared work to combat the effects of this disease."

The Public Assistance program provides grants at a 75/25 cost share to state and local governments, tribal nations and certain non-profit entities to assist with eligible costs associated with responding to and recovering from disasters.

For COVID-19, FEMA has simplified the Public Assistance application and funding process to address the magnitude of this event and to allow local officials to receive eligible funding more quickly. These reimbursements can play a critical role in helping local, state and tribal officials assist their communities during this response.

The current disaster declaration for Kansas authorizes help with Emergency Protective Measures, which includes the purchase of PPE, durable medical equipment, and consumable medical supplies necessary to respond to COVID-19 cases.

The disaster declaration also authorizes Direct Federal Assistance to help governmental entities and tribal nations with certain COVID-related actions that the states, localities and tribes themselves cannot undertake at this time for some reason, such as the inability to use their own personnel to perform a function or an inability to contract with someone else to do the work.

FEMA will not duplicate assistance provided by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or other federal agencies. This includes necessary emergency protective measures for activities taken in response to the COVID-19 incident. FEMA assistance will be provided at the 75 percent Federal cost share.