"The enormous scale of this year's flooding has made it hard for Iowa communities to pay 25 percent of disaster costs," Braley said.  "Increasing federal funding to 90 percent will help speed recovery and relieve communities already stretched to the breaking point.  I'm glad the Iowa delegation was able to work with FEMA to get the 25 percent state-local funding requirement waived.  I'm pleased that local governments will have the resources they need to start rebuilding." 

Braley learned late yesterday from FEMA that the federal disaster declaration would be amended to increase the federal funding level to 90 percent of recovery costs, leaving state and local governments responsible for only the remaining 10 percent.  

In the wake of the floods of 1993, President Clinton similarly approved reimbursement of FEMA disaster costs at a 90 percent federal/10 percent non-federal split.

Rep. Braley, along with the other members of the Iowa delegation, wrote to President Bush on June 17th asking him to waive the 75 percent federal/25 percent non-federal cost share agreement for 60 days.