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Capitol Notebook: Gov. Kim Reynolds again appoints rejected state board member

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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Gov. Kim Reynolds has once again appointed to the state’s Public Employment Relations Board a former Republican state lawmaker who has been serving on the board without Senate confirmation.


Reynolds this week appointed Erik Helland, a former state lawmaker from Johnston, to the board. It was among dozens of appointments to myriad state boards.


The board’s charge, according to its mission statement, is to act neutrally to “promote harmonious and cooperative relationships between government and its employees without disruption of public services.”


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Reynolds previously appointed Helland — both are Republicans — to the board, but his appointment was not confirmed this year by the Iowa Senate. In the meantime, Helland has been serving as the board’s chair and drawing a $97,460 salary, according to state records.


Confirmation of gubernatorial appointees requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate, and based on early, procedural votes during the 2022 legislative session, it appeared Helland would not get enough votes from Democrats to gain approval in the Republican-majority Senate.


“I have problems with his management style, his philosophy of leadership,” Sen. Todd Taylor, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, said during a committee hearing on the appointment in April. “And I have problems with the way the governor has handled this department.”


Taylor at the time expressed concern about Helland drawing a higher salary on the board than the member he replaced, who was a woman and a Democrat. Taylor also cited the fact that the board is not politically balanced as required by state law; the three-member board currently has only two members, Helland and Jane Dufoe, both of whom are Republicans.


With Reynolds once again appointing Helland to the board, his nomination will once again come before the Senate in 2023.

 
So, the Gov can just repeatedly appoint the same person over and over even if not confirmed and they can work in the position and draw a salary? Seems like a loophole that needs to be closed. What's the point of confirmation if you don't really need it?
 
She must somehow be reigned in. What Iowa once was is fast becoming only a distant memory.
Yep, and she is taking down legislators from her own party who dare to defy her. It will only get worse. She'll keep back a little until the election, then expect a hard right social warfare assault.
 
She must somehow be reigned in. What Iowa once was is fast becoming only a distant memory.
She has proved to be "Terry Branstad on steroids".....If it ever came down to voting on personalities, I would never vote for her.......but I vote for the Dems today because, as a Party, they are not as offensive to me as Iowa Republicans.
 
Yep, and she is taking down legislators from her own party who dare to defy her. It will only get worse. She'll keep back a little until the election, then expect a hard right social warfare assault.
This is the part that is so radical.

She campaigned AGAINST nearly every Iowa Republican that dared to defy her in the school voucher issue.

So get ready to see Iowa swing even further to the right and watch college educated Iowans continue to flee the State. We'll be left with Bible toting, White rednecks without teeth standing in line for their free cheese.
 
This is the part that is so radical.

She campaigned AGAINST nearly every Iowa Republican that dared to defy her in the school voucher issue.

So get ready to see Iowa swing even further to the right and watch college educated Iowans continue to flee the State. We'll be left with Bible toting, White rednecks without teeth standing in line for their free cheese.
Please don't leave, I am learning soooooo much from your intellectual posts!
 
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