Iowa Senate Democrats

Fighting for a Better Deal for Iowans.

  • Oversight needed on rejection of federal COVID help

    Legislators request Oversight meeting on Reynolds rejection of $95 million in federal COVID help

    The top Democrats on the Iowa Legislature’s House and Senate Oversight Committees are requesting meetings to review the Reynolds Administration’s handling of Federal COVID relief funds. 

    In a joint letter to the House and Senate Oversight Committee chairs, the top Democrats on each committee, Senator Claire Celsi of West Des Moines and Representative Ruth Ann Gaines of Des Moines, write that they were “flabbergasted to discover that Governor Reynolds sent $95 million in COVID-19 testing funding back to the U.S. Federal Government instead of giving schools the option to use it for COVID-19 testing protocols in their districts.”

    For more information, contact Senator Claire Celsi, 515-554-6754.

    -end-

  • 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-

  • 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

  • Celsi: More testing, oversight needed

    For Immediate Release: May 13, 2020

    More Widespread Testing, Government Oversight is Needed in Iowa

    Des Moines, Iowa (May 13, 2020) – State Senator Claire Celsi is calling on Governor Kim Reynolds to expand testing in cooperation with other entities in order to provide a larger testing footprint in Iowa. So far, TestIowa has not delivered on its contractual promise to test at least 5,000 people per day.

    “I am hearing reports from all over the state,” said Senator Claire Celsi. “People who have significant symptoms and/or exposure to COVID-19 are not being selected to receive a test. Also, people who have been tested are still not receiving their results in a timely manner. I am calling on Governor Kim Reynolds to hold TestIowa accountable for their promises.”

    “At this point, she should not hesitate to add more testing from other entities to fill the gap,” said Celsi.   “Iowans cannot wait. Governor Reynolds is planning to open up the state. The only defense we have is knowing who has tested positive for COVID-19. We must act now to make sure our testing is adequate to protect Iowans. People want to get back to normal, but to do so safely and with confidence people can get the testing they need.”

    Many Iowans are being told to “contact their health provider” to be considered for a test. However, the providers are not able to test all people – they must meet significant criteria in order to qualify for a test. Even people who have been exposed to COVID-19 in nursing homes, jails and hospitals sometimes do not qualify.

    “Mitigation efforts will not be adequate until our state has the capacity to test, at a minimum, all symptomatic individuals as well as asymptomatic individuals with suspected COVID-19 exposure or who work in high-risk environments,” said Dr. Austin Baeth, an internal medicine physician in Des Moines. “It is widely held among epidemiologists that premature resumption of economic activity before implementing robust testing and contact tracing poses a substantial risk of resurgence of COVID-19.” 

    Lorna Truck, a retired librarian who lives in West Des Moines, wrote to Celsi recently, pleading for more testing for all who have been exposed to the COVID-19.

    “Even though there have been several confirmed cases in a long-term care facility where Lorna’s mother lives, the facility has been denied additional testing, despite Reynolds’ claim to have testing available for all residents and employees of nursing homes. We need to change that immediately,” said Celsi.

    “As Iowa moves into the next phase of reopening, our state will receive a significant amount of money from the Federal Government to boost testing and contact tracing,” said Celsi, “I urge Governor Reynolds to spend that money bolstering county public health departments and Iowa-based testing labs instead of giving more money to unproven and unsatisfactory testing companies like TestIowa.”

    Celsi suggests that eventually Iowa should be testing 10,000 people per day and that number should include all Iowans who request a test as well as a significant sampling of asymptomatic people to monitor the spread and activity level of COVID19. Moving toward fall when many expect schools to reopen, this knowledge will be essential information for workers, students and all services that support school districts, like transportation and food service.

    Senator Celsi is a member of the Senate Government Oversight Committee.  She plans to ask the Iowa Senate’s Republican leadership to hold a committee meeting dedicated to the TestIowa $26 million no-bid contract.  The meeting would focus on recovering the state funds given to TestIowa or requiring TestIowa to use different, more effective equipment to fulfill the terms of their contract.

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  • Oversight meeting needed on state use of cloud-based software

  • Committee remarks on SJR 21

    Prepared opening remarks to the Senate State Government Committee on SJR 21 by State Sen. Claire Celsi, D-West Des Moines

    SJR 21, Constitutional Amendment: legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=88&ba=SJR21

    Good morning and welcome to all Iowans who’ve traveled here today to witness this meeting and those who are listening online.

    For many Iowans, this proposed Constitutional Amendment by the Republicans may seem like its coming out of left field.

    Let me assure you. This Iowa bill is just a small part of a coordinated effort to overturn Roe vs. Wade at the national level – and if the Supreme Court kicks the decision back to the states – it’s an effort to weaken the protections of the Iowa Constitution.

    Republicans know that once the Iowa is weakened, if their plan succeeds – then they can go back to the bad bills they’ve tried to pass and get them all out of the trash heap of history and pass them without fear of the Iowa Supreme Court overturning their laws.

    Let’s review. They’ve passed telemedicine abortion bans, a 72-hour waiting period and a 6 week heartbeat bill. Each attempt to limit Iowans’ rights to a safe, legal abortion was more extreme, medically inaccurate and insulting than the one before.

    All of these extreme laws have been nixed by the courts. In the 72-hour waiting period case, the Iowa Supreme Court had enough and the majority opinion went into great detail as to all the ways that Iowans’ constitutional rights had been usurped.

    Republicans complain of activist, unelected judges making these decisions on behalf of Iowans. But what’s ironic is that Republicans in Iowa and nationally are working to stack the courts with judges that will rule in their favor on the issue of abortion.

    A Constitutional amendment is the most extreme action that can be taken a democratic political body. The Republicans are sick of the courts standing up for Iowans’ rights. They want to make sure they have the final say.

    Since this bill has been introduced, I’ve heard from women from all over Iowa. Women who have had life threatening conditions such as preeclampsia that have killed their baby and nearly killed them, too. I’ve heard from Iowans who had an aunt, mother or grandmother who had an illegal abortion and died. I’ve heard from retired nurses from Western Iowa who worked in rural hospitals that provided safe yet illegal abortions to women who had the means and access to the procedure.

    I’ve talked to women whose sisters went to college, tried to self abort their pregnancy in a bathroom, and never came home.

    I’ve talked to women who lost babies much wanted babies at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks for various reasons.

    Thanks to Iowa’s law that limits abortion after 20 weeks – “except for the life and health of the mother” some women have had to wait until they were septic before having a life-saving D&C.

    Some Republicans in the Iowa Senate are determined to weaponize our Constitution to eliminate rights that we currently have. Today, my Democratic colleagues and I are standing up against that overreaching concept.

    Instead of focusing on Iowa’s maternal health crisis, Republicans choose instead to ignore those problems and go the most extreme route possible.

    On behalf of my constituents and the millions of Iowans who support safe, accessible and legal reproductive healthcare – I take great offense to this completely unnecessary bill.

    Thank you Mr. Chair.

  • Statement on constitutional amendment on women’s health

    Read and track Senate Joint Resolution 21

    State Sen. Claire Celsi’s prepared remarks for subcommittee meeting on SJR 21

    January 16, 2019

    Good morning, and welcome to all Iowans who came to express their opinions here today. This is the one and only time that a public expression of opposition or support of an amendment to our constitution will be allowed.

    It speaks volumes to me that the notice for this meeting was requested from my clerk barely in time to meet the 24-hour notice Senate handshake agreement. But the notice was not received through the normal channels by Senate staff, the lobby or the public due to a technical malfunction. When asked to move the meeting to a more amenable time so that more members of the public – those who would be affected most by this law – the suggestion was rejected by the majority.

    It’s a sad day for us when we have four large public meetings for sports betting here at the Capitol, and one poorly noticed public meeting in a small room for such a consequential one here today.

    The Iowa Constitution has been updated a number of times in our state’s history. In every circumstance – it was to update and modernize, right a wrong, or expand the rights of our citizens. This amendment would take rights away. And that is the wrong direction for Iowans. Public poll after public poll affirms that our constituents trust pregnant Iowans to make decisions about their own bodies with the advice of their physicians, their partner and their God.

    In contrast, if approved, this Constitutional amendment seeks to take away a right to bodily autonomy and privacy. The Supreme Court recently elevated its recent decision to include the phrase “strict scrutiny to applies to the right to an abortion.” That means that this right is so important that any attempt to diminish this right should be considered a very serious encroachment on individual rights.

    Some Republicans in the Senate are determined to continue this war on pregnant Iowans – to stand directly between an individual who is making a serious and consequential decision for themselves and their family. These senators want to metaphorically gown up and come right in to the surgical suite and tell that trained physician and the person giving birth and their family that THEY KNOW BETTER. They get to make those decisions.

    My Senate democratic colleagues and I are standing up to say – No way. Not on our watch.

    We have a serious maternal health crisis on our hands. More than 30 labor and delivery departments have closed around our state. There are serious shortages of obstetricians around the state. Options for prenatal care are shrinking. Instead of focusing on these solvable problems, Republicans are choosing instead to focus on a long odyssey of restricting rights through a constitutional amendment and a public vote.

    Iowans deserve public servants who listen to their needs and respond. Iowans from all over the state are asking me to maintain their rights.

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  • Watch Dec. 14 Manufactured Housing Reform Hearing

    Below are links to the Facebook live stream taken at the Manufactured Housing Reform Meeting.

    LIVE VIDEOS

    Part 1 facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats/videos/2642283802527093/

    Part 2 facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats/videos/548923872626380/

  • Oversight Committee should investigate DHS chief allegations, resignation

    Iowa Senate News release
    July 22, 2019

     

    Key Senators: Oversight Committee needs to investigate Foxhoven allegations, resignation

    DES MOINES — Democratic Senators Tony Bisignano and Claire Celsi, members of the Senate Government Oversight Committee, are calling for an interim public meeting of the five-member committee to discuss the departure of Jerry Foxhoven, former Director of the Iowa Department of Human Services.

    “Governor Reynolds has said that she wanted her Administration to be one of the most honest and transparent in history,” said Sen. Tony Bisignano, Ranking Member of the Senate Oversight Committee. “We are calling on her to be transparent, release all relevant information, and to clear up the real reasons for Jerry Foxhoven’s resignation.”

    A 2017 state law requires that the reason for firing (or demanding the resignation of an employee) is made public. Reynolds has declined to explain why Foxhoven was asked to resign and claimed that there has been a group working towards “a new direction” for the Department. When asked to produce documents proving that the group had been meeting, or to produce documents related to Foxhoven’s termination, Reynolds claims that none exists.

    “The need for a public meeting is more important because of recent allegations by Foxhoven that he was asked by Governor Reynolds to do something illegal and he declined,” said Sen. Claire Celsi. “Iowans deserve to know what is going on and we want to get to the bottom of it. We’re asking Senate Republican leaders Charles Schneider and Jack Whitver to authorize Senator Amy Sinclair, chair of the Senate Oversight committee, to convene a meeting so we can question those involved and get some answers.”

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