Deep cut proposed for Iowa board enforcing government transparency

A Republican budget deal would cut $75,000 over the next five months from the Iowa Public Information Board - nearly a quarter of the annual budget for the agency charged with protecting state government transparency.

The proposed cut represents 22 percent of the board's annual budget and 40 percent of what it has available for expenses through June 30, which is the end of this fiscal year, Interim Board Director Margaret Johnson said this week.

'You're not asking anyone else to drop a quarter of their budget,” she said.

The nine-member board was created in 2012 to enforce Iowa's Open Records and Open Meetings laws. The group processed 875 cases in 2016, including 107 formal complaints, 99 informal complaints and 629 informal requests for information. In 2016, 68 percent of the cases were resolved in one day, a board report states.

'The vast majority of complaints were settled informally, with the board attorneys negotiating a compromise that satisfied both parties, reduced community conflict, and resulted in increased government transparency,” the report states. 'In addition, board staff attorneys conducted training sessions for hundreds of state, county, and city officials. The board identified continuing problems in the areas of meeting notice, governmental subcommittees, and law enforcement records.”

The board has the authority to levy civil penalties of up to $2,500 for knowing violations of law, but seldom files charges. Former Washington County Attorney Larry Brock paid a $1,000 fine in 2014 for waiting more than three months to provide public records requested by a former park ranger.

In April, the board will go to a contested case hearing, alleging the Burlington Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation broke public records law by not releasing investigative materials from the 2015 fatal shooting of Autumn Steele, a Burlington mother, by Burlington Police Officer Jesse Hill.

The board has three full-time employees, though executive director Charlie Smithson left Dec. 1 to become secretary to the Iowa Senate. Not having to pay his annual salary of $96,000 has freed up some money, but not enough to cut $75,000 still this fiscal year, Johnson said.

The board also has had to make payments to Mark McCormick, a former Iowa Supreme Court justice prosecuting the Burlington case for the board, she said.

'I have no idea” where the money will come from, Johnson said. 'It's all salary and non-negotiable overhead.”

The $75,000 cut is only a sliver of the $117.8 million Republican lawmakers have proposed slicing from the state general fund budget by June 30 to make up for a projected tax revenue shortfall. A previous budget proposal from Gov. Terry Branstad did not include any reduction for the public information board.

Several Republican lawmakers The Gazette contacted Wednesday did not immediately return calls and emails.

This included Rep. Andy McKean, of Anamosa, and Rep. Gary Mohr, of Bettendorf, both whom served on the public information board until they were elected to the House in November.

l Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com