DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Settlement agreements are likely to continue to dominate the agenda at the Iowa Capitol this week as some lawmakers remain unsatisfied with discrepancies in testimony and answers they received during hearings last week.
Former employees testified at a Government Oversight Committee hearing last week they were treated badly when fired in 2011 and were offered money to keep quiet about their dismissals. They also claimed their replacements were less qualified, that jobs weren’t advertised and that administrators at the Iowa Department of Administrative Services had connections with the people they hired.
They also claimed the state isn’t saving money as it claims as a result of restructuring that led to their layoffs.
DAS Director Mike Carroll later denied those allegations, giving testimony to the committee that completely contradicted the workers.
He said the new employees had a different set of skills more appropriate for the government reorganization and he provided information claiming the state will save up to $12 million through the reorganization.
Democratic Sen. Janet Petersen, chair of the Senate Government Oversight Committee, said she plans to ask state department heads and human resources officials to come before the committee.
“I think we found out that job postings were not handled correctly and so we’ve got more questions,” she said. “I still don’t believe we’re getting the right answers when it comes to contracting and the amount of money. Are we really saving taxpayers’ dollars?”
More than 320 state workers have entered settlement agreements since Republican Gov. Terry Branstad took office in 2011, and more than two dozen were asked to sign confidentiality agreements. The total paid exceeded $500,000.
Lawmakers have raised questions about where the money came from and why the workers were fired. Some former workers have alleged their firing was motivated by politics and some say they were asked by the state to accept cash in exchange for keeping the agreements quiet.
The two days of hearings did little to clear up those questions, Petersen said.
“We have requested a great deal of information we’re still waiting to get back from the department to take a look at,” Petersen said.
As the Legislature enters its final weeks, it’s unusual to introduce new measures, but Gov. Terry Branstad has suggested opening state employee records so the public knows what a worker did wrong to get fired or disciplined.
Branstad surprised many people Monday with his claim that many state employees have committed sexual abuse, elder abuse and child abuse, but their actions cannot be made public because current law makes such personnel records confidential.
The Government Oversight Committee approved a bill that would make some personnel records public, including disciplinary actions. It’s retroactive 10 years to 2004. It would also put into law Branstad’s executive order signed March 24 that makes confidential clauses in settlement agreements unlawful.
Some Democrats argue that is an attempt to diffuse attention from the issues of Branstad administration payments for employee silence. They also counter that publicizing worker employment records violates the state collective bargaining law.
The legislation is listed on the House debate schedule for Monday and is likely to draw intense debate.
Democrats in the Senate tacked an amendment onto a state spending bill that would require the state auditor to look into confidential settlement agreements with fired state workers during Gov. Terry Branstad’s current term. The amendment authorizes $10,000 for the auditor to conduct the reviews.
Senate Republicans proposed to amend the measure to cover the administrations of Chet Culver and Tom Vilsack, both Democrats, claiming confidential settlements are nothing new. The GOP proposal failed.
Democratic Senate Leader Mike Gronstal accused Republicans of politicizing the issue.
“Here’s the difference. The Branstad administration paid people money to shut the hell up,” Gronstal said Thursday at a news conference. Culver’s administration never did that.
Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, said it’s the Legislature’s job to get all the information to determine what’s been happening with settlement agreements including past administrations. He said it isn’t fair for Democrats to focus on Branstad but exclude previous Democratic governors.
“It’s not our job here in the chamber to do a witch hunt or do what they do out in DC or New Jersey or whatever that is,” he said. “It is our job to get to the bottom of this information,”
It appears there were five confidentiality agreements during Vilsack’s two terms as governor and eight during Culver’s single term. Both governors maintained no money was paid to workers to keep quiet, and they said the agreements were part of the grievance process intended to protect the workers.
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