Governor plans to help cover Iowa public information board cuts

Gov. Terry Branstad said he will transfer money to the Iowa Public Information Board to offset some of the $75,000 the Iowa Legislature cut from the budget of the group charged with enforcing government openness and transparency.

Speaking at the Iowa Newspaper Association convention banquet Friday night, Branstad said he will work with board staff to determine how much money they can cut without halting investigation and mediation of complaints about public agencies breaking Iowa's open records and open meetings laws.

'If necessary, I have the authority to transfer funds to make sure there is no interruption,” Branstad told banquet attendees.

Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes provided few details Monday about how this transfer would be accomplished.

'We will work with the Public Information Board to ensure all the needs are met,” Hammes wrote in an email. 'Keep in mind, he also made the point at the banquet, that the executive director position is still open and has been for some time. There is savings as well by not filling that position.”

Branstad last week signed a bill to eliminate nearly $118 million from the state's budget through June 30 to make up for lower-than-expected tax revenue. The $75,000 cut to the public information board was one of the smallest losses by dollars, but represents about one-quarter of the board's $384,000 annual budget.

The nine-member board, which Branstad signed into law in 2012, 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 board has three full-time employees, though executive director Charlie Smithson left Dec. 1 to become secretary to the Iowa Senate. Margaret Johnson, who had been serving as deputy director under Smithson, has been interim executive director since he left. Five months of her former compensation would be about $35,000.

The board also is reducing the number of meetings to save on mileage expenses for board members, Johnson said Monday.

Johnson said she's grateful for Branstad's support. 'I think he has a sense of pride in what we do,” she said.

But the board will soon begin budgeting for the next two fiscal years and Johnson knows it can't depend on being bailed out by the governor, who has been appointed to be U.S. ambassador to China. Johnson has been busy talking Iowa lawmakers about the board's mission and value to constituents, she said.

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.

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