Rep. Axne Adds $400 Million to Iowa Flood Funding Tracker

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 24 -- Rep. Cynthia Axne, D-Iowa, issued the following news release:

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- USDA Response to Axne Request for Transparency Yields New Details on Recovery Funding

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Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) announced $408 million has been added to her Iowa Flood Funding Tracker following new information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on federal dollars spent in Iowa on flood recovery and other assistance efforts.

In a letter to Rep. Axne, the USDA detailed $408,784,120 in funding obligated for projects and grants in Iowa. The full letter from the USDA is available here (https://axne.house.gov/sites/axne.house.gov/files/USDA%20Reply%20to%20Rep%20Axne_Flood%20Funding%20Tracker.pdf).

"I'm pleased to add more than $400 million to my Iowa Flood Funding Tracker thanks to new details from the USDA on how they're helping Iowa recover from devastating floods," said Rep. Cindy Axne. "Iowans deserve transparency from their government while communities are still reporting they are not getting the assistance they need. I will continue to push the remaining agencies to explain how they are helping Iowa rebuild and recover."

The USDA also provided information on a number of pending outlays and grant applications, with more than 480 awards still pending final approval.

The information from USDA is a response to Rep. Axne's request last month for eight federal agencies to provide specific updates on the disaster relief funding being spent in Iowa.

Earlier this month, Rep. Axne launched her Iowa Flood Funding Tracker for constituents to track updates on disaster relief funding being spent in Iowa after disastrous flooding in Southwest Iowa and across the region. The Tracker now includes information for USDA, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Last week, Rep. Axne voted for a bipartisan appropriations package which made available an additional $1.5 billion in unspent 2017 disaster funds for 2019 agriculture disaster recovery programs.

In November, the House passed bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Rep. Axne to modernize federal disaster recovery programs, ensure funds appropriated by Congress are delivered to disaster victims in a timely manner, and protect taxpayer dollars by increasing safeguards against misuse of program resources.

In May, the House passed H.R. 2157 - Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 - which Rep. Axne successfully amended to increase funding for programs vital to Iowa. President Trump signed that bill into effect on June 7th, effectively making funds available for disaster recovery programs available that day.