COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA — Democrat Iowa Third District Representative Cindy Axne has announced a grant amounting to over $1.2-million ($1,239,123) for Head Start projects was awarded to Family, Inc., an education non-profit and Early Head Start provider based in Council Bluffs. The grant funds come from the Department of Health and Human Services. Axne says “Providing a quality education to Iowa children starts with programs like Head Start, and countless studies show the endless benefits that early childhood education can have on a child’s future.”

Records show Axne has voted multiple times in her first term in Congress to increase investments in Head Start programs. In December, Rep. Axne joined her Democratic and Republican colleagues in supporting a Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations package that included $10.6 billion for Head Start, an increase of more than $500 million over Fiscal Year 2019. Her office says  Rep. Axne has also been focused on making government grants more accessible and transparent.

Last year, President Trump signed the Axne-sponsored Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency (GREAT) Act of 2019 into law, streamlining the outdated and burdensome federal grant process, making it easier and cheaper for Iowans to apply for grants, and allowing taxpayers to better track government spending.