Capitol Notebook: Iowa Gov. Reynolds orders flags full staff for Trump’s inauguration

DES MOINES — Flags at the Iowa Capitol will fly full-staff Jan. 20 for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, then return to half-staff to continue the remembrance of President Jimmy Carter, under an order issued Tuesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Reynolds on Dec. 30 ordered all flags in Iowa lowered to half-staff in remembrance of Carter, the 39th U.S. president who died Dec. 29 at age 100. Her order stated all Iowa flags should remain at half-staff until sunset on Jan. 28, “in conjunction and for the same length of time as a proclamation from President Joe Biden.”

Tuesday, the Republican governor ordered all flags at the Iowa Capitol and all state buildings be raised to full-staff from sunrise to sunset Jan. 20 to recognize Trump’s inauguration that day.

“On Monday, President Donald J. Trump will be officially sworn into office as the 47th President of the United States. Iowa will celebrate and recognize this historic change in our country’s leadership by raising our flags,” Reynolds said in a statement.

Flags on state buildings will then be lowered to half-staff again from sunrise Jan. 21 to sunset on Jan. 28 in continued remembrance of Carter.

Other Republican governors issued similar orders to raise their state buildings’ flags to full-staff for Trump’s inauguration, and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, issued a similar order to raise U.S. Capitol flags to full-staff for the inauguration.

Earlier this month, Trump in a social media post claimed without evidence that Democrats were “giddy” about flags being at half-staff for his inauguration. “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out,” Trump said in the post.

Grassley hopes for bipartisan support for Trump AG pick

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Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who chairs the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, said he does not foresee any trouble for Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, ahead of her hearing this week.

Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General, is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday with the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I don’t think she’s going to have any trouble,” Grassley said earlier this week at the Iowa Capitol, where he attended the opening day of the 2025 session of the Iowa Legislature. “I’m expecting some tough questions from Democrats, but then we had tough questions from Republicans when (current AG Merrick) Garland was there.

“Garland was voted out on a bipartisan basis. I hope (Bondi) will be voted out on a bipartisan basis,” Grassley said.

Grassley said once the committee is finished with its work on Bondi’s nomination, he expects to move next to Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel.

Meat-packer agrees to address child labor compliance

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The nation’s largest meatpacking processor and slaughterhouse will provide $4 million to assist individuals and communities affected by unlawful child labor practices nationwide, including in Iowa.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced an agreement this week with JBS USA Food Co. committing the meat-packer to holding third-party contractors and service providers accountable for illegal child labor. The agreement follows a 2022 federal investigation of third-party contractors that provide cleaning services for food processing companies.

The investigations found that JBS’s sanitation contractor, Wisconsin-based Packers Sanitation Services Inc., employed children in dangerous jobs and during overnight shifts at the company’s facilities in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.

The labor department investigation found the contractor employed more than 100 children — from 13 to 17 years old — to use caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws and other high-risk equipment at 13 meat processing facilities in eight states. JBS has plants in Council Bluffs, Marshalltown and Ottumwa in Iowa, according to the company’s website.

The contractor paid more than $1.5 million in civil penalties. JBS fired it and hired its own sanitation workforce.

The $4 million will provide direct assistance to affected individuals and communities nationwide in the form of scholarships, stipends and education aid, as well assist community organizations that teach English to non-native speakers and provide housing and literacy and job training. The company, though, will prioritize its efforts in the communities of Guntersville, Alabama; Greeley, Colorado; Worthington, Minnesota; and Grand Island, Nebraska, and Ottumwa, according to Department of Labor.

In addition to the $4 million fund, JBS also will hire a child labor compliance specialist to review policies and maintain an ethics hotline for anonymous reporting of compliance concerns, among other steps, according to the Department of Labor.

JBS USA Food Co. employs more than 37,000 people at 14 beef and pork processing facilities across the country, with products sold under dozens of brand names including Pilgrim’s, Primo and Swift in the United States.

State Auditor Sand releases legislative recommendations

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State Auditor Rob Sand announced his legislative recommendations for the 2025 session, including addressing the nationwide shortage of accountants and expanding the Public Innovations and Efficiencies or “PIE” program.

The PIE program started five years ago, encouraging local governments to find ways to “reduce waste” and save tax dollars. Sand’s recommendation would require the auditor’s office to prepare an annual report based on PIE program practices and distribute it statewide so everyone can access it.

Addressing the nationwide accountant shortage is also one of Sand’s recommendations. His proposal would exempt accountants from state income tax when performing audits and examinations of governmental subdivisions.

“I’ve already tried to ease the shortage in our office by eliminating the four-year degree requirement and hiring accountants with associate degrees,” Sand said in a statement. “The tax exemption incentivizes private CPA firms to perform government audits crucial to tracking how the government spends your money.”

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

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