DES MOINES, Iowa — With most Iowa schools set to resume instruction next week, U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) wrote to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Wednesday in order to urge the governor to deploy all available resources to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in classrooms, including using the federal funds designated for that purpose that the state of Iowa rejected earlier this year.
In April the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) declined to use more than $95 million in funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Reopening Schools program.
The ELC funds — which can be used to test for COVID-19 in schools, upgrade air filtration systems in schools, promote vaccinations and other uses — were provided by the American Rescue Plan, the federal COVID-19 relief bill signed into law in March.
Axne was Iowa’s only member of Congress to vote for the American Rescue Plan, which brought about $1.2 billion to Iowa’s local governments and $1.5 billion to Iowa’s state government.
“I strongly urge the State of Iowa to reconsider its position to decline ELC Reopening Schools funding,” Axne said in her letter to Reynolds. “As we enter a new school year and new chapter of the pandemic, it is imperative that we all come together — federal, state and local partners alike — to ensure Iowa schools have the tools necessary to provide in-person instruction in a healthy, safe space. ELC Reopening Schools funds are one key tool at our disposal to keep our children safe.”
In her letter, Axne highlighted the growing risk that COVID-19 and the delta variant pose to children, noting that the number of positive tests per week among U.S. children has more than doubled over last month.
In late April, Reynolds announced to a Fox News Channel national audience that she returned the American Rescue Plan’s $95 million allocated to Iowa for in-school COVID-19 testing because the state already had “ample funding and testing capacity” available for school districts.
In turning down the federal money, Kelly Garcia, interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, said that “to date, no Iowa schools have claimed expenses for testing supplies or services.”
Axne urged the governor to protect Iowa’s school children by using the federal funding for in-school surveillance testing.
“I am deeply concerned that the return to school will only lead to more COVID-19 cases,” Axne said in her letter, “including cases requiring hospitalization, unless schools have the resources to develop and implement mitigation strategies that fit their needs. Additional resources, such as those from the CDC, would allow schools to do more testing, identify who may have COVID-19, and better protect kids, teachers and parents from COVID-19.”
