Des Moines, Iowa — Governor Kim Reynolds is calling for an end to the legal limits in Iowa law on the pay for top state administrators.
The salary ranges for state agency directors and other top administrators have not been changed since 2008. The governor’s plan to shrink the number of state agencies to 16 includes a provision that would let Reynolds set the salaries for those 16 agency directors. Jacob Nicholson, the chief operating officer on the governor’s staff, says it’s a recruitment and retention issue.
Nicholson says in some larger state agencies, there are 20 to 30 employees whose salaries are higher than the director who is their boss. The governor has provided bonuses in some of those situations.
Some Democrats like Representative Amy Nielson of North Liberty say they’re concerned the proposal removes all limits on the salaries of top agency directors.
That would be nearly twice the salary being paid to Iowa’s current Health and Human Services director. Nielsen says the salary guidelines for all state employees should be evaluated.
Zach Goodrich is executive director and legal counsel for the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. He says the board has been asking lawmakers to raise the salary for the position for several years.
A group of House members have started hosting public hearings this week on the government realignment plan Governor Reynolds submitted to the legislature.
