KDSN RADIO News
Iowa governor’s disaster response package eligible for floor debate
The governor’s bill to help Iowans rebuild after natural disasters has cleared four different committees in the Iowa House and Senate.
Last year’s massive tornadoes and flooding damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and the governor’s plan would pull $13.6 million dollars from the state’s Economic Emergency Fund for housing assistance. Senator David Rowley, a Republican from Spirit Lake, said the bill also would streamline and speed up disaster assistance distribution.
“Floods, tornadoes, derechos — all of these disasters — hailstorms, anything that comes through it creates a disastrous affect on these communities. We need to address it. We need to be faster than we have been in the past,” Rowley said. “This allows those dollars to flow forward.”
The package is getting bipartisan support. During the Senate Ways and Means Committee meeting this morning, Senator William Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, thanked the governor and her staff for their work on the legislation.
“This isn’t something that was just thrown together. It’s been worked on for a considerable amount of time and really is a pro-active approach that would help people in real time,” Dotzler said, “so I think it’s a good bill to move forward.”
After complaints about how insurance claims were being handled, the bill calls for state licensing of so-called “umpires” called in to mediate disputes between adjusters who represent property owners and insurance company adjusters. The bill would create a state revolving loan fund to help finance flood control and other projects designed to reduce damage from future natural disasters. There’s also $2 million in the bill to help Iowa cities hit by tornadoes or floods in 2024 demolish buildings that cannot be repaired.
