IOWA - The state of Iowa is returning over $95 million in COVID-19 relief to the federal government.
During an interview on Fox News on Thursday night, Governor Kim Reynolds said that the money was “additional” and supposed to be used to get kids back into the classroom and do surveillance testing.
Reynolds said Iowa’s students have been back in school since August.
In a letter to the CDC, Kelly Garcia with the Iowa Department of Public Health said if the money could be used for something other than testing, the state would keep it.
The letter also says Iowa has ample funding and testing capacity available for its schools.
The state's largest school district, Des Moines Public Schools, did not return to full-time in-person classes until October of last year.
Last year, Governor Reynolds involuntarily returned $21 million in federal CARES Act funding after the government determined she misused the money on a software program.