Ethics board dismisses complaints regarding Governor Kim Reynolds’ flights with donors

DES MOINES - The state's government ethics board on Thursday dismissed two complaints against Gov. Kim Reynolds' reporting of flights on private jets provided by donors.

One of the complaints against Reynolds, the state's Republican governor, was brought by Gary Dickey, a Des Moines attorney and former staff member for former Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Reynolds has reported nine flights as 'in-kind” donations, a term used to describe services offered to candidates in lieu of money donation.

Reynolds recently has come under scrutiny for accepting flights on private jets from business leaders who have business before the state: a casino owner and an executive from a company that processes workers' compensation claims for state employees.

The ethics board on Thursday ruled that accepting the flights as in-kind donations is permissible under state campaign finance laws.

It also rejected a specific complaint from Dickey that the Reynolds campaign undervalued the flight to Memphis, Tenn., for the Iowa State University football team's bowl game in December.

The Reynolds campaign reported an in-kind donation for $2,880 from David North, of Bellevue, president and CEO of Sedgwick Inc. The figure was calculated by the company's legal counsel, North told the Associated Press.

Megan Tooker, the board's legal counsel, said Iowa law states the contributor is to provide fair-market value to the campaign, that the campaign is not required to verify that figure, and that federal law has strict tax rules about reimbursements.

'So I don't think it's unreasonable for either the board or the campaign to assume that those flights are being properly paid for in the case of a corporate owner,” Tooker said.

Dickey after the board's ruling said he maintains the Reynolds' campaign undervalued the flight to Memphis by at least half.

He said he thinks Sedgwick reported how much the flight cost the company, but state law requires the campaign to report fair-market value. Dickey said in his research the lowest bid he could find was $2,800 per seat.

Reynolds attended the game with her husband and two other family members.

'The fair-market value would be how much it costs per seat for an individual to fly charter on a Gulfstream G200 (private jet) from Des Moines to Memphis, Tenn.,” Dickey said. 'I've yet to find a charter service that provides that affordable of transportation.”

Dickey said he will consider whether to appeal the board's ruling or file a subsequent complaint with more details and legal analysis.

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