A bill that the Iowa House and Senate are considering would be a monumental shift or restructuring state government.
District 24 Senator Jesse Green (R-Boone) says the governor’s proposal includes consolidating 37 state departments to 16. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio part of the reason for this legislation was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of communication and at times “chaotic” situations some of the departments were in. He points out another reason is because Iowa pays $2,400 more per capita than Illinois does, which Green believes is shocking. Green describes a third reason.
“When we dug a little bit deeper, there’s 500 vacant positions in government that the taxpayers are paying for and then those departments are using that money for other things. So I’d say those are the three big points as to what has driven the need to at least explore restructuring government.”
One part of the massive over 1,500 page bill that is in both the House and Senate is allowing the state attorney general the ability to take over any criminal case in any county at any time. Greene County Attorney Thomas Laehn is opposed to this change because it could undermine local control of how justice is being administered in Greene County, centralize prosecution of crime in Des Moines and he explains a third reason why he objects to this change.
“It will cause county attorneys across the state to essentially have two masters. Normally, I don’t care what the attorney general thinks when prosecuting a crime, that’s just irrelevant to what I do. My concern is what is in the interest of justice and what is expected of me by the people who elected me. But if I know the attorney general can intervene in my case and take it over anytime the attorney general disagrees with a decision I’m making, then I’ve essentially become subservient to the attorney general.”
When asked about this proposed change to Senator Green, he didn’t support or object, but rather wants to better understand the situation and knows about the concern that is being voiced. You can click the links below to see the bills in both chambers.
Senate bill: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=SSB1123
House bill: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGI/90/HSB126.pdf