Doing something

Who is speaking up for Iowa?

Based on Eric Baker’s lack of response to my inquiries, the Iowa Office for State-Federal Relations is silent on the Trump Administration’s looting of funds and contracts supporting state, local, private and non-profit programs, projects and services in Iowa.

Baker is head of Iowa’s state-federal relations office, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. He is also Kim Reynolds’ director of strategic operations.

Though the office is “attached to the office of the governor for administrative purposes,” Iowa code twice states that the Office for State-Federal Relations is established as an independent agency to “develop a nonpartisan state-federal relations program accessible to all three branches of state government.”

In reality, the office has become the governor’s personal lobbying arm. Bleeding Heartland reporter Laura Belin reported 15 months ago that Gov. Reynolds taxed 16 state agencies in a range of $189,721 to $299,782 between fiscal years 2020 and 2023 to pay for the “Office,” which used to be physically located in Washington D.C., with two dedicated staffers.

During those years Iowa was the recipient of some $3.75 billion in Coronavirus Relief and American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The Iowa Legislature spent little time or energy directing or exercising oversight over use of those funds. That could change if Wapello County State Rep. Hans Wilz, chair of the new House Federal and Other Funds Appropriations Subcommittee, asks some hard questions or attempts to limit the governor’s unilateral control of federal resources.

In recent memory, the Legislature has not appropriated money to fund the state-federal relations office. Out of budget sight, out of mind, apparently. Financial documents analyzed by Belin suggest that by not filling a vacant position in the Office the governor was able to skim departmental monies assessed for the independent agency to cover shortfalls in her own budget. This at a time when many of the same departments have been forced by “status quo budgets” to eliminate vacant positions.

With that background information, would it be fair for reporters to ask the independent state-federal relations officer how state government is responding to the President’s widespread impoundment, delay and unilateral rescission of Congressionally-approved funding for contracts, programs and projects in Iowa?

In my time at the Capitol (2009-2024), the State Legislature never bothered itself with this office. (My 2024 bill to have the State-Federal Relations Office submit an annual report to the Legislature got nowhere.) If the body has something to say to Washington, they (the House more often than the Senate) pass resolutions and send letters to Congress.

The House did not adopt a resolution I introduced with 22 Democrats in 2022 to “commemorate the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Clean Water Act, recognizing the impact of the landmark legislation, and committing to necessary and appropriate legislative action to prevent water pollution, improve water quality, and protect public health.”

But the House did adopt, the same year, a resolution sponsored by 26 Republicans to “urge the United States Food and Drug Administration to take action necessary to improve labeling of imitation eggs and egg products.” Then sent the feds a letter. Huge implications for our economy, no? Taking the bull by the horns, in 2024 legislative Republicans and Gov. Reynolds made it formal with Senate File 2391: Request a federal waiver to prohibit the use of federal food assistance to buy “imitation egg products.” Not sure about the status of that request, but we sure wouldn’t SNAP recipients, like other consumers, to be able to buy egg substitutes for protein if the price of real eggs gets out of control, would we?

Never has it been considered, as I recommended, that House and Senate leaders -- both Democratic and Republican -- along with the governor, meet with Iowa’s congressional delegation once a year to discuss our common interests and how we can work together at the state and federal levels to advance those critical interests. Instead, the state’s current Republican attorney general just filed lawsuits against the Democratic president after the Legislature and current governor took away the previous Democratic attorney general’s power to do the same against the previous Republican president.

So, the Iowa State Legislature overlooks the Office of State-Federal Relations. How about the Iowa Judicial Branch? In light of current changes at the federal level, I asked Iowa State Courts Administrator Robert Gast how the courts have been impacted and if the Judicial Branch has interacted recently with the Office of State-Federal Relations. He responded promptly:

“The Judicial Branch has not been asked to contribute to the annual state-federal program nor has the Branch been asked to respond to any changes that may affect the Iowa Court System. At this time, the Iowa Justice System is not experiencing any delays, rescission or impoundment of federal funds. The Judicial Branch does have some programs that could be impacted by a cessation of federal funds but right now we do not have answers (regarding) what those federal funds might be for the new fiscal year.”

So far, “prompt” is not a word I can use to describe the governor’s office. On March 15 — and again on March 19 —I e-mailed Gov. Reynolds’ director of strategic operation/director of the Office of State-Federal Relations:

1. Is the Office of State-Federal Relations keeping track of federal funding being withdrawn or withheld from state agencies, universities, NGOs and private entities in the state as a result of presidential executive orders? If so, can you please provide that information to me?

2. Is the Office advocating that some or all of such funding be maintained/restored; for example, research funding committed to the state universities? If so, can you please provide such communications to me?

3. Can you please forward to me the annual state-federal program presented to Iowa’s congressional delegation, per code section 7E.1?

4. Similarly, if there have been any documents related to the Office’s duty to “monitor federal budget policies and assistance programs and assess their impact on the state,” I would be interested in getting those, too.

As a legislator, normally I would not have been in a super hurry to get information from the state’s Executive Branch unless it related to pending legislation. But since these issues don’t appear to be on the Legislature’s radar screen, and blows from the federal Executive Branch arrive fast and furious, I assume many Iowans may be eager to know: How is the governor trying to shield us and advocate for Iowa? She has a tool in the Iowa Office of State-Federal Relations to do exactly that.

Some local officials are convening people and attempting to document what Iowa is losing. I encourage others to do the same. Send the results to the Office of State-Federal Relations at eric.baker@governor.iowa.gov. Also send them to me at chuck.isenhart@repchuckisenhart.org. I will compile the data for public review.

For example, we have heard about the uncertain future of medical research at the University of Iowa and many fields of research at Iowa State that has meant some graduate students are losing their offers of admission. I have already written about the suffocation of Iowa’s refugee resettlement agencies. Last week, Iowa schools and growers learned about an $11 million hit to local farm, food and school lunch programs. Other farmers are being left high and dry on conservation investments they have made

Dubuque County Watersheds and the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium are being slammed by the freeze on federal funds. Might as well be a “shutdown” for them.

Also, let’s not forget the job cuts affecting national park rangers and people working to protect our soil and water. Some 70 Natural Resources Conservation Service employees in Iowa have taken “early leave” or are probationary workers in administrative limbo. Another 45 folks working with partner organizations are also affected, including 39 with Iowa’s county soil and water conservation districts. NRCS is currently undertaking only legally required activities that don’t involve travel. The Farm Service Agency in Iowa has lost 24 employees. All projects funded with federal Inflation Reduction Act monies are on hold. The USDA Rural Energy for America Progam is also frozen.

Closer to my home, the director of Catholic Charities at the Archdiocese of Dubuque is anticipating the loss of $245,000 in federal funding. The Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium is losing support from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, which makes history accessible to millions of Americans. This includes 200,000 annual visitors to the Dubuque museum, accounting for $16 million in local economic activity, directly supporting 176 households with employment. Dubuque County Watersheds may lose a growing season because of a freeze on its multi-million RCPP grant (Regional Conservation Partnership Program). Two contractors have been terminated because they can’t be paid.

I will be renewing my request for more comprehensive information from the governor’s Office of State Federal-Relations, relying on Chapter 22 of the Iowa Code — the “open records” law that provides for the examination of public records. Not sure that will produce a meaningful, timely response, but at least I can tell myself I am “doing something.”