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Governor Kim Reynolds recently denied $95 million in COVID-19 relief funds for schools from the federal government.

The funding came from the newly passed American Rescue Plan. House District 47 Representative Phil Thompson agreed with Reynolds’ decision to give the money back.

“We’re in a fiscal position in the state, we really don’t need to be bombarded with federal dollars. And there are some consequences to accepting all that money too, one being you can’t backfill with tax relief with it, and really if we use those dollars and they end up growing FTEs (full time employment) and that’s an ongoing expense too. No, I really respect Governor Reynolds for saying, ‘We’re fiscally responsible in Iowa and we’re budgeting well.”

Thompson stands by the state and their handling of the state’s budget, while making financial decisions that are fiscally responsible.

“We really do need to make more statements like that as we continue to see just a super fast growing federal budget and inflation is almost certainly on the way. So we really do need to reel in federal spending.”

Reynolds made her statement on a recent Fox News television show.