Stories

Federal stimulus for Medicaid has boosted jobs and incomes in Iowa while meeting the immediate health needs of vulnerable Iowans enduring a recession, researchers with the Iowa Fiscal Partnership reported today.
“Increased Medicaid spending has an economic benefit for the state of Iowa far greater than the federal government’s initial investment,” explained David Swenson, an economist [...]

The federal government is expected to shower Iowa with more than $2.5 billion as part of the economic recovery program passed by Congress this year, and every dollar must be accounted for. Much of that task rests on the shoulders of Jon Murphy, director of the Iowa Office of State-Federal Relations.

While state governments across the country gear up for another year of devastating budget shortfalls and federal officials weigh whether the state of the economy calls for a second round of stimulus spending, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said he believes the Hawkeye State can weather the storm without additional federal cash.

More than half of the nearly $445 million headed to Iowa as part of the federal stimulus package has been assigned to projects, according to a report issued by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

State Auditor David Vaudt would turn down a portion of Iowa’s $1.9 billion share of the federal stimulus money if he were governor, the West Des Moines Republican told Douglas Burns of Iowa Political Alert Thursday.
Vaudt has joined a group of conservatives around the country who say their states should decline some of the federal [...]