Supervisors join letter to Iowa delegates to protect agencies like MATURA

Health and human services were pushed to be protected after the Union County Board of Supervisors approved cosigning a letter to Iowa delegates asking for crucial funding for outreach services be protected at the federal level.

The letter, addressed to senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst and representatives Randy Feenstra, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson and Zach Nunn, asks for the Iowa Congressional Delegation to ensure Congress continues support for the Community Services Block Grant program as they move through the budget and appropriations process for the next fiscal years.

CSBG funding accounts for 95% of Iowa’s Community Action Agency funding. CAAs are outreach agencies which work to provide assistance to individuals and households striving to escape poverty. There are 16 CAAs in Iowa, each one covering multiple counties. The state was able to assist 258,000 individuals last year to provide resources in addressing poverty.

Union County’s CAA is MATURA, which assists low-income individuals by offering a variety of services including providing Head Start funding for classrooms and finding employment opportunities for those the CAA assists.

CAAs across Iowa have offered support through various recent emergency response projects, including assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic and for emergency assistance after natural disasters. Losing funding for these services could close outreach offices and prevent the same level of assistance to those who need the service.

Union County is one of several counties who are cosigning this letter to Iowa’s delegates.

In other Union County news...

A resolution was signed to hear a proposed amendment to the Union County Wind Farm Urban Renewal Plan, setting a public hearing for May 14. The amendment will issue a second general obligation bond for the renewal plan, which will assist in continuing funding for projects which the first bond, issued for $5 million and set to end in November, wouldn’t cover. Union County will have a consultation with representatives from the Creston and O-M school districts before the public hearing.

The board of supervisors accepted a RPA-14/ATURA STBG grant agreement, part of the funding process of the secondary roads’ ongoing restoration project. Secondary roads was awarded $2.75 million as a part of the grant with options available for additional funding.

Union County claims were given an extension for a few handwritten claims to be approved during Wednesday’s meeting, with the board noting how the scheduling of board meetings offering a strange time period for these types of claims.