Iowa Senate Democrats

Fighting for a Better Deal for Iowans.

  • Our COVID Recovery Plan

    Iowans have been through a lot over the last year, particularly with the pandemic. It’s not over yet, but it is time for the Legislature to do all it can to help Iowa build back better, bigger and stronger than ever.

    My focus this session is on a four-part plan to help Iowa rebound from the ravages of the last year. Senate Democrats’ COVID Recovery Plan aims to:

    1. Defeat COVID-19 by rolling out vaccines to all Iowans as efficiently as possible. Our country has surpassed 400,000 deaths and is expected to hit the 500,000-fatality mark in February. With no time to waste, we should use some of the state’s budget surplus to get emergency funding to county health departments to speed up distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations and contact tracing.

    2. Help hurting Iowans. The pandemic has sickened Iowa workers and shuttered businesses throughout the state. The good news is that we have ample resources to:

    • Support struggling small businesses with direct grants and forgivable loans.
    • Help cities, counties and school districts bounce back from a tough year.
    • Assist food banks that are serving an increasing number of Iowans in need.
    • Exempt federal unemployment payments from state taxes.  

    3. Build back better by focusing on critical needs. This includes:

    • Developing an Essential Workers Bill of Rights that guarantees better pay and stronger workplace protections.
    • Keeping local small businesses that are part of the very fabric of our communities.
    • Expanding access to affordable child care throughout the state.
    • Investing in high-speed Internet that will make every corner of Iowa a great place to live, learn and work.

    4. Ensure accountability. An independent, blue-ribbon COVID Commission with representatives from all sectors of our economy should be given broad subpoena and investigative powers. Iowans deserve to know where their hard-earned tax dollars are going as we recover from this pandemic. The knowledge we gain will help us better prepare for future emergencies.

    Senate Democrats are currently putting together the bills that will help achieve the goals of this four-part plan.

    RELATED LEGISLATION

    Vaccinating Iowans

    • Emergency funding to county health departments to speed up distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations and contact tracing {SF 199}.

    Helping hurting Iowans

    • Using our budget surplus and the economic emergency funds to support struggling small businesses on Main Street with direct grants {SF 325}.
    • Support food banks and other efforts  to address growing food insecurity in Iowa {SF 153; SF 157; SF 273}
    • Exempt the first $10,200 in federal and state unemployment payments from state taxes {SF 290}.

    Building Back Better

    • An Essential Workers’ Bill of Rights, including:
    • Requiring employers to provide up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for eligible employees. {SF 137}.
    • Provide hazard pay to essential workers exposed to the risk of COVID-19 {SF 412}.
    • Providing whistleblower protections for employees who file a complaint due to risk of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace {SF 471}.
    • Expanding access to child care {SF 437; SF 177; SF 186}.
    • Expanding access to preschool {SF 189}. 

    Blue-Ribbon COVID Commission

    • The Commission would help us understand state government’s mistakes and failures, investigate negligence or profiteering in the private sector, and show us how to better prepare for future pandemic {SF 519}.

  • Gov. Reynolds’ Misuse of Federal Pandemic Relief Funds

    For the past two years, Governor Reynolds has been less than forthcoming about the Governor’s Office budget. According to documents uncovered by reporters, the Governor’s Office was running a budget deficit of approximately half a million dollars ($449,448) in March of this year. Details: https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2020/12/07/exclusive-iowa-governor-overspent-office-budget-before-tapping-cares-act/

    Shortly thereafter, the State of Iowa received millions of dollars in pandemic aid from the Federal CARES Act. Iowa was specifically prohibited from spending CARES dollars on staff salaries already accounted for in state budgets. All staff salaries in the Iowa Governor’s office were previously accounted for in the certified budget or through salary-sharing agreements with other state departments.

    A later directive clarified that CARES Act dollars money could be used to pay additional staff hired to meet increased workloads due to the pandemic. However, no additional staff were ever hired by Governor Reynolds.

    In an apparently improper effort to cover the Governor’s office budget deficit, Sara Craig Gongol, the Governor’s Chief of Staff, submitted an invoice for CARES Act dollars for the exact amount of that deficit. The funds were then transferred to the Governor’s office through the Dept. of Homeland Security – an unusual move.

    This maneuver circumvented normal accounting of CARES Act spending and calls into question the legitimacy of the transfer of funds. More importantly, these dollars are urgently needed to fund the pressing needs of Iowa families during this deadly pandemic.

    Senator Celsi is formally requesting that Republican leaders in the Iowa Senate convene a Senate Government Oversight meeting on this issue. The Legislature must ensure that all CARES dollars are used properly. If the State of Iowa fails to do so, Iowa could be required to return misspent CARES Act funding.

    Senator Celsi calls on Governor Reynolds to immediately return to Iowa’s CARES Act account the nearly half million dollars in pandemic relief funds improperly diverted to her office.

    “If Governor Reynolds cannot manage her office with the funds she’s received from the Legislature, she should request additional dollars from the proper channels. What Governor Reynold should not do—and the Legislature should not allow—is divert federal dollars intended to help Iowa recover from this historic pandemic,” said Senator Celsi. “There are too many other immediate needs in our state to allow this money to be misspent.”

    -End-

  • Unemployment rate much higher than Reynolds Administration estimate

    A statement by Senator Herman C. Quirmbach, D-Ames:

    “Today’s press release from the Reynolds Administration on Iowa unemployment dramatically underrepresents the actual situation in Iowa.  While the release claims Iowa unemployment is 3.6%, a more accurate unemployment number is 10.3%.  

    “Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) reported this October that the number of ‘unemployed’ Iowans was 58,500.  However, IWD only counts people who have lost their jobs as ‘unemployed’ if they are still looking for work.  Not counted by IWD are another 121,500 Iowans out of a job over the last 12 months who have given up trying to find a job.  Added together, the actual number of Iowans who are unemployed relative to a year ago is 180,000, three times the 58,500 Iowans currently reported by IWD.

    “When we include all the Iowans out of a job over the last year, Iowa’s actual unemployment rate is 10.3%, and the actual number of Iowans who have lost their jobs is approximately 180,000.

    “The picture is equally bleak looking at the employment side.  Compared to a year ago, there were 130,800 fewer jobs in Iowa this October.  That’s 130,800 fewer paychecks to pay the rent or mortgage, to put food on the table, to pay medical bills, or to pay for heat this winter.  Christmas is going to be thin this year for those 130,800 Iowa families.

    —  30 —

    Senator Quirmbach holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton and taught as an economics professor at ISU for 29 years.

  • Statement on Governor’s misuse of federal COVID funds

    Statement by Senator Claire Celsi on findings by State Auditor and U.S. Treasury Department’s Inspector General on misuse of federal COVID relief funds by Governor Reynolds

    Sen. Claire Celsi is Ranking Member of the Senate Administration and Regulation Subcommittee

    “I am disappointed that Governor Reynolds used taxpayer money intended for COVID-19 related uses for non-pandemic expenditures. 

    ”These findings, discovered during Auditor Rob Sands’ review and confirmed by the Treasury Department’s Inspector General, prove that Governor Reynolds misused more than $20 million of federal funds the state received to fund COVID-19 relief measures that are desperately needed in our state.

    “Instead of directing more money to testing and contact tracing, paid sick leave for essential workers, food assistance, childcare subsidies, additional money for rent assistance, unemployment insurance, utility assistance, providing PPE to healthcare workers and educators, and to help schools prepare for the winter season — and myriad of other uses —  Governor Reynolds is using the CARES Act money as a means to fund pet projects and make Iowa’s budget appear flush with excess funds.

    “The U.S. Treasury had explicit rules on how this money could be used, and upon examination, it appears those rules were ignored.

    “A few months ago, I asked State Auditor Rob Sand to investigate the use of COVID-19 relief money to fund Workday, an IT project that was already underway before the pandemic.

    “Normally, the Senate Oversight Committee would investigate this type of action, but Auditor Sands’ independent investigation is the only option we have at this time. I fully support his critical examination of this misappropriation of taxpayer dollars.

    “I urge Department of Management Director Roderer and Governor Reynolds to immediately rectify this situation and use the COVID-19 funding for COVID-19 expenses, not as a supplement to our normal Iowa general fund budget.”

    -end-

  • Investigation needed into misuse of federal COVID funds

    Iowa Senate News Release
    September 16, 2020

    Key Democratic Legislators call for investigations into misuse of federal COVID funds

    Key Democratic legislators are calling for investigations into reports that Governor Reynolds diverted nearly $450,000 to pay her staff instead of using the funds for COVID-19 relief efforts. 

    “At a time when the number of jobless Iowans is through the roof and many Iowa businesses are hurting because of the pandemic, Iowa taxpayers should have confidence that federal COVID relief funds are being used only to help them,” said Sen. Joe Bolkcom, Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

    “Instead of using funds that are desperately needed to provide relief to hard-working Iowans and closed or struggling businesses hurt by the pandemic, the Governor is diverting the relief funding for other purposes.  That’s not right.”

    A report by Bleeding Heartland uncovered public documents showing that Reynolds directed that $448,449 in funding received through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act were used to cover salaries and benefits for staff already working in her office.

    The diversion is even more puzzling because the Legislature approved and the Governor signed legislation to appropriate more than $4.6 million to cover the cost of running the Governor’s office – including salaries and benefits – over the past two years. 

    “We need to find out what the Governor did with the extra money. The intent of the federal aid was not to allow the Governor to set up a slush fund,” Bolkcom said. “We also need to find out if this diversion is continuing.”

    For the past six months, none of the documents released to the public and legislators contained any information about this diversion of funds.

    “Instead of transparency by the Governor and her staff, they are hiding the ball from Iowa taxpayers,” Bolkcom said.

    Democratic Senators called for a three-pronged effort to investigate this misuse of public funds:

    • First, Senator Claire Celsi of West Des Moines, Ranking Member of the Administration and Regulation Budget Subcommittee, will request that the State Auditor immediately investigate the diversion of funds. The Subcommittee appropriated $2,303,954 for the Governor’s office during Fiscal Year 2020 (July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020) and $2,315,344 for Fiscal Year 2021 (July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021).
    • Second, Senator Tony Bisignano,  Ranking Member of the Government Oversight Committee, will request that the Oversight Committee convene to allow Republican and Democratic lawmakers to question the Governor, the Director of the Department of Management and other key officials with knowledge of this diversion.
    • Third, federal officials in U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) will be contacted to investigate whether paying existing staff is an appropriate use of COVID relief funds.

    END

  • Iowa is COVID hot spot

    Iowa is officially the worst place in the country—and one of the worst places in the world—for spread of the coronavirus.

    Six months into the pandemic, when many of us thought we might be in the clear, Iowa is in the thick of it with record-high infection rates and mounting deaths.

    In response, the Governor on August 27 closed bars in six counties, including Black Hawk, Johnson, Linn, Polk and Story. This is another half-hearted move that is preventing Iowa from getting the coronavirus under control.

    Governor Reynolds opened the state too fast, failed to follow the advice of public health experts, and continues to tie the hands of local leaders. Because of unreliable and inconsistent data from the state, we’re in a seemingly endless cycle that is hindering efforts to safely and sustainably open our economy and schools.

    To fill the void, organizations are stepping in to share the information they are collecting.

    For example, the Iowa State Education Association, in partnership with Iowa Covid-19 Tracker, has released a statewide tracking system for Iowa’s K-12 schools. Parents, teachers and school administrators can report COVID-19 cases, and families and community members can track what’s happening. To report information or see where cases have been confirmed, go to iowacovid19tracker.org/covid-19-in-our-schools.

    The Iowa Board of Medicine has also become more vocal in advocating for stronger measures to prevent spread of the coronavirus. In line with recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), they’re pushing for masks in public areas and all situations where it’s difficult to maintain distance.

    Let’s all do our part:

    • Wear a mask in public
    • Keep your distance from others
    • Wash your hands frequently
    • Stay home when sick

    New regulations and relief for bars

    The Department of Inspections and Appeals (DIA) has published FAQs to answer questions about bar closures in six counties (Black Hawk, Dallas, Johnson, Linn, Polk and Story) under the Governor’s August 27 proclamation. The order is in effect through September 20.

    To file a COVID-related complaint about a bar or restaurant, go to stateofiowa.seamlessdocs.com/f/abd_complaint.

    For more information, visit the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division website, email education@iowaabd.com or call 515-281-7400.

    Through federal CARES Act funding, grants are available to impacted businesses. Applications will be accepted September 10-24 for one-time $10,000 grants to assist with short-term cash flow. Eligible businesses must be in good standing with the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, and the Iowa Department of Revenue.

    For complete details and to apply, go to iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/Business/business-disruption.

  • Senate GOP failed to support bipartisan effort to restore voting rights

    Statement by Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen
    August 5, 2020

    “With the General Election less than 100 days away and in the absence of leadership by Senate Republicans, an executive order was the best way to give a second chance to many Iowans who lost their voting rights when they went to prison.

    “However, this is a temporary solution. A permanent solution was blocked by Senate Republicans, who failed to amend the Iowa Constitution to allow more Iowans to vote. Sen. Brad Zaun, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, waited until the 11th hour of the 2020 session to finally get it through the Judiciary Committee but there was no effort to bring it to a vote by the full Senate.

    “Like most Iowans, we cheered last year when the Iowa House – on a 95-2 vote – approved a key, bipartisan priority: restoring voting rights of felons. We agreed with the Governor when she said the bipartisan vote in the Iowa House was ‘a victory for Iowans who deserve a second chance.’

    “There’s no excuse for Senator Zaun and Senate Republicans dropping the ball on this.”

    ###

  • 2020 Session Wrap-up

  • Statement by Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen on passage of Criminal Justice Reforms

    Iowa Senate News Release
    June 11, 2020

    “The death of George Floyd, a black man killed by police in Minneapolis, has sparked protests and conversations about racial injustice in our nation.

    “Iowans are coming together as we’ve never seen before to say ‘enough is enough.’

    “Senate Democrats support these first steps because they will advance equality and justice in our state.

    “We know there is much more work to be done here in Iowa. Senate Democrats pledge to continue working to end racial profiling, enact  criminal justice reforms, and expand voting rights.

    “We also need to address racial disparities in health care, income and educational inequality, and much more.

    “Iowans are calling for social and racial justice. Senate Democrats are ready to make that a reality, and we are so happy to make a first step today in a bipartisan manner.”

    ###

    Summary of Senate File 2416, which passed the Iowa Senate June 11, 2020.

    • DIVISION I – Attorney General authority to investigate when officer causes a death
    • DIVISION II – Prohibition on use of chokeholds by officers – adds prohibition and definition
    • DIVISION III – Officers from other states, including reserve officers, applying for jobs in Iowa and Iowa applicants, revocation or suspension
    • DIVISION IV – Requiring de-escalation and prevention of bias training

  • Petersen: We can take immediate steps to end racial disparities

    By State Senator Janet Petersen

    Problems that have plagued our nation and state for generations are demanding attention, especially following the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by police in Minneapolis.

    Iowans and Americans everywhere are coming together to say “enough is enough.” It’s time that our actions condemn hate and racism. It’s time that our actions advance equality and justice for all.

    There is so much work to be done here in Iowa, but we don’t need to start from scratch. Many bipartisan bills have been proposed and are just waiting to be called up by legislative leaders.

    We can start right away by passing criminal justice reforms before the Legislature adjourns the 2020 session. Iowa has significant disparities in arrests and incarceration of black citizens—only 4% of Iowa’s population is black, but more than 25% of our prison population is black.

    There is strong bipartisan support to restore voting rights to felons who’ve served their sentences. Many of these Iowans have returned home; they’re working, paying taxes and contributing to their communities. They’ve served their time and deserve to participate in their government.

    HJR 14 would amend the Iowa Constitution to do just that. The resolution passed the Iowa House during the 2019 session, 95-2. In the Senate, unfortunately, it stalled in Judiciary Committee.

    We have a lot of work ahead of us to ensure all Iowans are truly free. We must fix unequal treatment under the law, end racial profiling and improve community policing. We need to address health disparities, income inequality, educational opportunities, access to voting and more.

    Senate Democrats are ready to make racial justice a reality for all Iowans.

    Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines is the Senate Democratic Leader.