Federal help worth $6.6 billion to Iowa

DES MOINES – Iowa dispersed $6.6 billion in federal funds last fiscal year – thanks to boosts in jobless insurance benefits, federal economic stimulus money and disaster aid, State Auditor David Vaudt said Wednesday.

That represented an increase of 32.5 percent over the previous fiscal year, Vaudt noted in a compliance report that covered federal fund expenditures by all state government agencies, institutions and universities.

Vaudt said the increase in federal funds expended in Iowa during the period that ended on June 30, 2009, was primarily due to an increase of about $415 million for unemployment insurance. The state also received about $382 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and another $290 million in disaster assistance payments.

Among the disbursements of federal money in Iowa were about $2 billion for Medicaid, $904 million for unemployment insurance, $467 million for highway planning and construction, $388 million for federal direct student loans, $381 million for the supplemental nutrition assistance program, $338 million for disaster assistance, and $114 million for the special education, according to Vaudt's report.

Overall, state officials administered about 580 federal programs during fiscal 2009, but seven programs accounted for more than 69 percent of the total federal disbursements, the state auditor reported.

Vaudt cited some internal control deficiencies at various state agencies, including instances of non-compliance. A copy of the report is available for review on the state auditor's http://auditor.iowa.gov/index.html Web Site.

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