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‘Plenty of ink in my veto pen’: Rob Sand promises to protect Iowa’s public pension system
State auditor’s bipartisan tone lands with independents
Sep. 18, 2025 2:07 pm, Updated: Sep. 18, 2025 2:26 pm
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Democratic gubernatorial candidate and State Auditor Rob Sand on Wednesday slammed parts of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ government efficiency task force recommendations and said he would veto attempts to alter Iowa’s pension system for public workers.
Speaking to more than 400 people at UA Local 125, Sand said he appreciates the Iowans who volunteered on Reynolds’ Department of Government Efficiency task force — but is troubled by who was appointed and by two headline recommendations: performance-based teacher bonuses and giving new public employees the option to opt out of the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS) and choose a 401(k)-style plan.
In an interview with reporters ahead of the town hall, Sand said the Iowa DOGE task force should have included more ideological diversity and people with front-line experience in public service. The 15-member panel skews toward private business and Republican donors, but also includes higher-ed business leaders and a few local government figures.
“She chose all people of one political party and then one independent — no Democrats. There’s also no career public servants in there,” Sand said. “You’re not really interested in government efficiency; you’re interested in what one group of people thinks when they think of government.”
Asked during the town hall how he would protect the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System, he said, if elected governor, he would keep “plenty of ink” in his veto pen for legislation that undermines IPERS.
“This is a promise that was made to Iowa workers, and I think we need to respect those promises,” Sand said.
On teacher pay, Sand resisted a yes-or-no answer about bonuses tied to student test scores.
“There's really mixed outcomes in this,” he told reporters. “… You can do it, and it can be effective if it's done carefully. And so to me, the question really is: What is the proposal, and is it one of those steps that will actually do it, versus making things more difficult and more complicated and be ineffective?”
The auditor, a former public-corruption prosecutor, used the task force debate to underline his broader themes of transparency and accountability. He touted the Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) program his office launched to help local governments save money, and he criticized a recent law restricting the auditor’s access to certain records.
“The No. 1 thing the state can do to improve government efficiency is allow the auditor’s office to audit — period,” he told reporters.
Sand said Iowans he’s meeting are “fed up with politics,” worried about rising costs — including “double-digit health insurance increases” and higher electric bills — and don’t see leaders focused on their problems. He rejected ideological labels, saying he prefers problem-solving over tribalism: “Labels lead to people saying you’re either in the group or out of the group. We need fewer groups right now. We need more unity.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has held the job since 2017, announced earlier this year she will not seek re-election to another four-year term.
‘Public money, public oversight’
Asked about his stance on Iowa’s Education Savings Accounts program — which uses public funds to help families pay private-school tuition — Sand said he respects private schools but argued that taxpayer dollars require taxpayer oversight. Citing his experience prosecuting fraud and his years running the auditor’s office, Sand warned that voucher dollars paid as tuition to private schools currently face too little scrutiny.
“I want public oversight of public money,” he said, arguing the law’s focus on “qualified educational expenses” effectively channels most payments into tuition, where spending is then largely unrestricted. He said Iowa’s auditor cannot examine how private schools spend those tuition dollars. Sand said that without auditing authority, inappropriate spending could go undetected and still be legal.
Sand: Rule-following immigrants shouldn’t feel unsafe
Asked during the town hall how he would protect immigrant families from “illegal deportations,” Sand said Iowa should not make people who work, pay taxes, keep clean criminal records and comply with immigration check-ins feel unsafe. He referenced the recent deportation of a West Liberty High School graduate who, he said, had attended annual ICE check-ins and had no criminal record before being deported. His remarks came amid heightened local concern and protest after multiple immigrants were detained at routine ICE check-ins in Cedar Rapids this summer.
Sand’s comments echo national policy shifts that have rippled into Iowa. The Associated Press reported this week that ICE rescinded a policy that had shielded many crime victims from detention and removal, and that arrests and detentions of some victims have followed — a change immigrant advocates say discourages reporting crimes.
“If you are working, if you are following the rules, you don't have a criminal record, if you're paying your taxes, why would we want people who are doing those things to feel unsafe in the state of Iowa?” Sand said, adding that even skeptics should see the workforce impact of removing construction workers and other contributors to the economy.
On potential use of the Iowa National Guard in federal immigration operations, he told reporters his approach would be guided by “public safety and the Constitution,” not party.
Tackling cancer rates
Asked how he would address Iowa’s rising cancer rates, Sand pushed for aggressive mitigation of radon — “Iowa is the worst state in the country for radon by far,” he said — expanded public education on links between alcohol use and cancer, and restoring environmental monitoring to better track nitrate pollution and other water-quality threats.
“It blows my mind” that state leaders reduced water-quality monitoring, Sand said, arguing that “you can’t fix what you don’t measure.” He said many of those steps should be achievable in a divided government because they save money over time by preventing disease.
On Charlie Kirk: ‘Show humanity’ during grief
Fielding a question about reactions to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Sand said he condemned the killing and urged Iowans to “be part of the solution, not part of the problem.” He said people should allow space for grief at vigils and memorials, adding that a person’s legacy can be debated “for 300 years,” but “we don’t need to debate that legacy while people are grieving.”
“There's been some of the best of humanity that we've seen. We're also seeing a lot of worst of humanity right now,” Sand said. “... Give people space. Show some humanity, show some respect. Right now, a lot of people are really hurting, and it makes the problem worse to rub things in their face. You're not doing anyone any favors if that's what you're doing. You might be free to do it, but just because we're free to do something doesn't make doing it a great decision.”
Asked about social-media posts celebrating Kirk’s killing, Sand told reporters free speech “does not mean freedom from consequences,” and that rhetoric that normalizes violence should be condemned.
The comments come as Iowa higher-education and K-12 leaders moved this week to investigate and potentially discipline employees who posted inflammatory comments online about Kirk’s killing.
Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Sept. 10 while speaking at a Utah campus, prompting nationwide debate over campus speech and political rhetoric.
‘He has my vote’: Sand’s bipartisan tone lands with independents
Jean Meek, a 55-year-old independent voter from Cedar Rapids who attended Wednesday’s town hall, said she was impressed by Sand’s rejection of party labels and emphasis on being “for the people” rather than for a specific party.
“He has my vote,” Meek said, praising Sand’s pitch for a more inclusive political culture, urging collaboration across party lines, and criticizing the current two-party political system as broken.
Meek, who asked about Iowa’s rising cancer rates, said Sand’s call to expand water-quality monitoring stood out.
“Everything's getting shoved under the rug constantly, and we have a huge problem. So I'm glad to hear him say that he's gonna do things differently,” she said.
Andrew Marshall, 25, of Hiawatha, said he came after his father urged him to check out the auditor’s campaign and because he’s looking for candidates who can lower the temperature. Marshall describes himself as an independent who leans slightly left but comes from a conservative family.
He said he was encouraged by Sand’s focus on “being open to different ideas from both sides” and cited the auditor’s office efficiency work as evidence: “He just seems very open to new ideas and tools of the government that have not been properly used for the people.”
Rylee Runge, 24, of Walcott, said Sand’s call to stop “pointing fingers” and work across party lines resonated with her. Runge said she left feeling “positive” about Sand’s bid.
“I think the system we have now is not working, and he brings a lot of hope,” she said.
Marshall added that education is emerging as a key issue for him, noting several relatives in teaching and one who worked with Grant Wood AEA.
“It’s so important for us to be educated and have a good education system here in our state,” he said.
Labels aside, he said, Sand “seems to care more about actually getting stuff done than playing with the system of politics we have today.”
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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