Reader hopes Reynolds will prove her wrong

Before the midterm election, amid concerns of changes to the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS), Gov. Kim Reynolds released statements assuring Iowans that IPERS is secure.

With the midterm election behind us, state employees await the next legislative session with trepidation. As a nurse with the Iowa Department of Corrections, I have serious concerns as Reynolds transitions from 'acting” to 'elected” governor.

Reynolds might believe the fantasy of her campaign rhetoric, that Iowa is strong and her vision to keep the state moving in the 'right direction” might be the reason Iowa was ranked the 'best state in the country.”

However, from a state employee perspective, I haven't viewed Iowa moving in the right direction ever since I watched, in disbelief, as Iowa's GOP legislature gutted Chapter 20 and stripped years of collective bargaining rights from state employees. That reality hits further home as state nurses work countless forced overtime hours while RNs no longer are being paid overtime wages.

All this while working in a high-risk environment, supporting an increasingly mentally ill population because of a serious lack of adequate health care.

Considering recent history, Reynolds and the Republican majority have not earned our trust. Why should state employees believe them?

I have serious doubts our new governor will keep her promise on IPERS, and I encourage her to prove me wrong.

Julie Schropp

Swisher