Shipley, Wood list state issues at Nunn meeting

It’s not 1983 anymore according to State Sen. Tom Shipley.

And Iowa isn’t in 1983 either, he said Friday during a meeting in Union County featuring Sen. Zach Nunn.

Shipley, who represents a majority of Union County, made those comments days after Gov. Kim Reynolds approved legislation making significant reorganizational changes to state government.

“Has anybody been doing anything they did 40 years ago? it’s time for something to change,” Shipley said.

Reynolds signed her agency reorganization plan into law April 4.

The governor said Iowa’s system of agencies and departments will begin working through the processes of restructuring and consolidation in the months before the official enactment of on July 1. While there may be a “bumps” along the way, Reynolds said, she hopes to have much of the mergers ready by the enactment date.

The nearly 1,600-page bill was one of Reynolds’ highest priorities for the 2023 legislative session, and made it through both chambers with minimal changes. Now enacted, the bill begins the process of compressing Iowa’s current 37 executive-level cabinet agencies down to 16, as well as changing some of the powers of the governor and attorney general.

Democrats proposed amendments for some of the concerns Iowans raised about changes like making the Office of the Consumer Advocate a division under the attorney general’s office and moving the Iowa Child Advocacy Board to the Department of Health and Human Services, changes which opponents said will removes the independence necessary for these entities to operate in the best interest of Iowans. The only changes to the bill approved were technical language fixes by the Senate.

Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls criticized the bill signing, calling it a power grab that takes away checks and balances from government offices and gives the governor the ability to appoint and set salaries for “friends and cronies.”

“House and Senate Republicans refused to fully vet this bill or exercise any oversight on the governor’s office,” Wahls said in a statement. “Now it’s law, and Iowans will be living with the consequences for decades to come.”

State agency directors and lawmakers joined Reynolds for the bill signing, where she praised the work done from the plan’s creation to the finish line. The governor worked with the Virginia-based consulting firm Guidehouse LLP , using nearly $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act federal in creating the reorganization plan.

Reynolds said the bill will save taxpayers money, citing the governor’s office finding the more than $214 million in savings over four years. Reorganization will also make Iowans’ interactions with the government easier, she said.

“Builders now must work across four separate agencies to get the licenses and inspections required of them, and that truly slows down the process, but that’s not going to be the case anymore,” she said.

Moving forward, she said many of the departmental changes will follow the example of Iowa’s former departments of Public Health and Human Services, which officially merged in August 2022. The state also consolidated administrative law judges in Iowa Workforce Development and the Department of Inspections and Appeals.

Reynolds said Iowans should not expect these changes to happen overnight.

“I’m not saying there won’t be bumps,” the governor said. “I mean, this is a huge undertaking, but we’re going to do it right, we’re going to get it right. And if we need to slow down any, you know, any of the alignments to make sure that we’re taking all of that into account, we’ll do that.”

Shipley noted another change to Iowa legislation as he sits on the agriculture and natural resources committee. He said projects from that committee are largely funded by revenues from Iowa’s casinos.

“That money is going to get harder and harder to come by. Council Bluffs’ casinos are a bigger feeder into

the fund,” he said.

For years, Nebraska residents have attended the Council Bluffs casinos, but with Nebraska starting to have its own state-regulated casinos, those residents are expected to go to the ones in Nebraska. Casinos are in the works in Lincoln and Grand Island.

“We are in the process of how we can can some expenses to shift to ag and natural resources,” he said.

State Rep. Devon Wood, who also represents a majority of Union County and in her first year, was in attendance Friday. She said she is interested in finding ways to either repurpose or dismantle vacated school buildings. A building in Sharpsburg in home of Taylor County was an example.

The last legislative coffee for the session in Union County is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday in the senior meal site at the Restored Depot.

Iowa Capital Dispatch contributed to this story.