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Iowa Senator: Subpoena power is needed to fix and improve state government

Prepared remarks by Senator Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Counil Bluffs)

Democratic Leaders, from left to right: House Democratic Leader Kevin McCarty of Des Moines, Senator Majority Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs, and Senate President Pam Jochum of Dubuque.
Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs

When government isn’t working, the job of legislators is to find out what’s gone wrong and propose policy that will fix it.

It’s obvious things have gone wrong in the Branstad Administration.

For a start, hush money payments and the involuntary conversion of hundreds of merit professionals into at-will employees who serve just as long as they keep the Governor happy.

Then there’s the group of merit employees responsible for overseeing millions in state contracts. The new management team–straight from the special interests they are supposed to oversee—replaced them with friends of friends, hired at the top of the salary scale without a public job search.

And that’s just the beginning.

Judges pressured to prejudge cases.

A state institution illegally closed and troubled children dispersed, even lost.

Workers who blew the whistle on bullying, threats of violence, and sexual harassment were fired and blacklisted.

When the charges were investigated, the reports disappeared into a black hole located in Governor’s office.

Worst of all, elderly veterans in the care of the state are treated badly.

Iowans need to know what happened.

Iowans need to know what went wrong.

These problems won’t be fixed until we know.

The Senate Oversight Committee needs to find out because Governor Branstad has stopped asking or answering questions.

Just days ago, the Governor again claimed that his internal investigation and Executive Order 85 was all that is needed.

Today, no one believes that. Even House Republicans on the House Oversight Committee don’t believe that.

Currently, they are boycotting the Joint Oversight Committee until the Governor responds to their list of questions.

And while serious issues keep popping up, we still have not learned who approved the hush money payments.

I believe we’ve learned that our state’s laws and administrative rules fell short. We didn’t have enough protections when challenged by a Governor and administration determined to have their way.

What was the consequence of that failure? Taxpayer money was wasted, state employees were unable to serve the public to the best of their ability, citizens suffered, and the will of the voters was frustrated.

That’s why the Senate Oversight Committee needs to continue its work, and have the power to compel testimony and documents.

The goal of this investigation is to find out what happened, how it happened, and, most importantly, suggest policy changes to prevent this from happening again.

The resolution before us is narrowly drafted. It is not a criminal investigation. The goal is not to convict people. The only goal is to find out what went wrong and how to fix it.

To effectively reform state government, we need to first find out the truth of what happened and why.

That’s what the documents and the testimony under oath obtained through subpoena power will help us do.

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