DES MOINES — Iowa House lawmakers passed a bill to reorganize and cut down the administrative boards and commissions in Iowa, but the proposal must be agreed to by the Senate before being sent to the governor for a signature.
The bill, Senate File 2385, would eliminate dozens of state boards and commissions or consolidate them under other boards. Administrative boards have a range of duties including rulemaking, overseeing professions, advising state agencies and allocating budgets.
The Senate passed the proposal last week, but the House amended the bill and sent it back to the chamber for approval. It passed the House 54-42.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed a bill to reorganize the state boards this year after a committee spent much of last summer reviewing boards and developing recommendations. The committee was created under a larger government reorganization bill Reynolds signed into law last year.
People are also reading…
Reynolds’ proposal this year called for cutting or consolidating 111 of Iowa’s boards and commissions, cutting the number of boards down to 145 after the reorganization.
The bill aligns in some ways with Reynolds’ original proposal, but it would leave intact some boards that Reynolds called to dissolve.
In calling for the changes this year, Reynolds said they would make state government more efficient and allow more decisions to be made by elected officials rather than appointed boards. Republicans echoed those arguments during floor debate on the proposal.
“This bill is about maximizing meaningful public participation in the boards and commissions process, and it increases state government accountability and efficiency by eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy,” Sen. Chris Cournoyer, R-LeClaire, said during Senate debate last week.
Which boards will be eliminated?
The sprawling bill, which spans more than 250 pages, eliminates a number of boards that are no longer meeting or serve a function that is no longer needed, while other eliminations called for in the bill have caused concern among some lawmakers and advocacy groups.
The bill would remove boards serving underrepresented groups, including commissions on Latino affairs, the status of women, African Americans, people with disabilities, Native Americans, deaf services and Asian and Pacific Islanders.
The duties of those boards would be brought under the Human Rights Board.
The bill would combine some health care boards, including creating a Behavioral Health Professionals board that would govern psychology, social work and therapy professions. The bill would bring several other existing health care boards under the Council of Health and Human Services.
The bill would also eliminate the Public Employment Relations Board, which oversees labor practices for public employees, and move its authority under the Employment Appeal Board.
Other changes
The bill would create a new “State Government Efficiency Review Committee” that would regularly review the state’s boards and commissions. The committee, which would be tasked with reviewing one-fourth of boards each year, would evaluate a board’s efficiency and effectiveness and make recommendations for changes or elimination.
Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, R-Northwood, who managed the bill in the House, said the review committee was the most important piece of the bill.
"We're setting up a review committee that we have talked about since I was elected eight years ago," Bloomingdale said. "...If we made a mistake, if we feel like the merged boards weren't right, we'll unmerge them."
Various measures in the bill would remove authority that is given to state boards and bring them under the agency or department they serve, giving executive staff appointed by the governor more rulemaking and decision making power.
Several boards and commissions that meet on a set schedule would be changed to meet on an as-needed basis, and the bill would require government bodies at all levels to run hybrid meetings that allow for remote participation.
Cultural board cuts objected
Democrats, who hold a minority in both chambers, filed a number of amendments and argued the bill would take power away from important boards, including the boards serving underrepresented communities.
Pointing to the move of rulemaking authority under executive agencies, Democrats argued the bill would consolidate power under the governor and away from the volunteer bodies.
"We had the opportunity to come together, get rid of some boards and commissions that were clearly unnecessary, and make a government that is more efficient and listens to Iowans," said Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City. "What we ended up with was a power grab that takes away the rights of islands and the voices of Iowans in the process of government."
Rep. Jerome Amos Jr., a Democrat from Waterloo, proposed an amendment to reinstate the boards serving underrepresented communities, arguing they served a vital role in giving minority populations a voice in state government. The amendment, along with several others proposed by Democrats, was voted down by Republicans.
"What it's going to do is, it's going to water down the voices of individuals that live in this state," he said. "Originally, you had a commission report that actually was made up of those different, ethnicity ethnic groups and they actually had a voice, a collective voice. But what this is going to do, it is going to take away that voice."
Bloomingdale said the groups would still have representation on the Human Rights Board.
“Every one of these groups will be represented on the Human Rights Board," Bloomingdale said. "And by bringing these people together we're hoping to expand their voice and create action."