Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa House has sent Governor Kim Reynolds the state government reorganization plan her staff and a consulting firm developed over the past year.
It reduces the number of state agencies from 37 to 16. It also shifts some government functions, like fire investigations and services for students with disabilities, to different areas of state government. Representative Jane Bloomingdale, a Republican from Northwood, is the bill’s floor manager.
Fifty-eight House Republicans backed the bill. All Democrats and five Republicans voted against it. Democrats say efficiency in state government is important, but the bill was rushed through the process and no changes were made to improve it. Representative Amy Nielsen, a Democrat from North Liberty, says the bill lets the governor fire administrators on a whim and gets rid of salary limits, so the governor can decide the pay for top state agency officials.
House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights says the bill diminishes the legislature’s role in determining how state government is run.
Democrats raised concerns about having the leader of the agency that serves blind Iowans be appointed by the governor rather than selected by an independent board of blind Iowans. Representative Bloomingdale announced at the end of the debate that Governor Reynolds is promising to keep the current Iowa Department for the Blind director in that role.
The bill eliminates about 200 full-time positions in state government that aren’t currently filled. Reynolds says the bill is transformational and will bring an end to a bloated bureaucracy.
