Maybe you, like me, have never given any thought to the Iowa Elevator Safety Board.
According to its website, the nine-member board’s duties are “To adopt definitions and rules for the safe and proper installation, repair, maintenance, alteration, use and operation of elevators, escalators, and related equipment.”
But under preliminary recommendations from Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Boards and Commissions Review Committee, the Elevator Safety Board is going down. The board would be eliminated, and its duties likely would be folded into the Department of Inspections and Appeals and Licensing.
But some Iowans stuck up for the Elevator Safety Board and dozens of other boards and commissions slated for elimination or consolidation during a public hearing this past week.
“In the seven states where I have branch offices, the state of Iowa has risen to the top due in large part to the Elevator Safety Board and the regular safety inspections and the safety tests,” said Jeff Schumacher, owner and operator of Schumacher Elevator Company based in Denver, Iowa, with a branch office in Cedar Rapids. His father was a founding member of the board in 2005.
“The state elevator board has done a tremendous job over the years. It’s a volunteer committee. The cost is minimal. I would ask the committee to reconsider that for public safety purposes,” Schumacher said.
Even for those of us who have been watching state government for a long time, the hearing was an educational experience.
For instance, I was unaware of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Board, which under the committee’s plan, would be consolidated or merged. Its duties are “To adopt definitions and rules for the safe and proper installation, repair, maintenance, alteration, use and operation of boilers and pressure vessels.”
Also slated for consolidation is the Electrical Licensing and Inspection Board, which determines who gets an electrical license. Its duties would be overtaken by the Department of Inspections and Appeals and Licensing.
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Same with the Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board, which “was established to administer and enforce the provisions of Iowa law regarding the licensing and regulation of plumbers, mechanical professionals, and contractors. The board issues trade licenses to plumbers, HVAC-refrigeration, sheet metal, hydronic and mechanical professionals, specialty licenses, contractor licenses, and medical gas piping installation certification.”
On the elimination list is the Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators, which “evaluates the qualifications of applicants for nursing home administrator licensure and grants licenses to those who qualify. The Board establishes rules and regulations to ensure the integrity and competence of licensed Nursing Home Administrators and investigates complaints for unprofessional conduct.”
With all the serious problems being reported in Iowa nursing homes, it seems like a strange time to get rid of a board that keeps tabs on how the facilities are being managed.
In each case, supporters and members of these boards insisted that merger or elimination would reduce the number of professional, expert watchdogs, making Iowans less safe. Sure, generally, elevators go up and down, boilers boil, water and gas go through pipes and electricity works. We don’t give them much thought — until something goes wrong.
We also don’t have much information at this point on how all this merging and consolidation would work.
Honestly, I’m not here to defend every board on the chopping block. Whittling down the current list of 256 boards and commissions is probably a good idea.
But this is a lousy way to do it.
As I’ve written before, four members of the six-member review committee work for the governor. A fifth citizen member was appointed by the governor. The sixth member is a deputy attorney general who works for Brenna Bird.
Members have been meeting behind the scenes in two-member subcommittees to skirt Iowa’s open meetings law. People who care about the work done by these boards and commissions were left on the sidelines until this past week’s hearing. Will their testimony carry any weight?
What do you think? Our current GOP regime rarely listens to anyone beyond their political allies and donors.
So it feels like a process with a predetermined conclusion.
Iowans have had precious little time to learn anything about these boards and commissions. If this process had a slogan, it would be, “The less Iowans know, the better.”
In some cases, the recommendations seem to have come from lobbyists for big business interests. In other instances, they seem to showcase contempt for constituencies the governor doesn’t care much about.
Take the recommendation that would merge the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women and commissions representing African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latino affairs and deaf Iowans into the single Iowa Human Rights Commission. More than one speaker at the hearing lamented the loss of commissions that give each of those communities a voice.
But those aren’t the voices the governor wants to hear, especially if they disagree with her on policy.
Is this really the best way to shrink government, by removing Iowans with expertise who receive no compensation and are simply, in many cases, looking out for public safety and the common good? They would seem to embody the essence of public service. The fewer Iowans who take part in our government, the more power devolves to Reynolds-appointed bureaucrats and lobbyists.
The review committee will make its final recommendations later this month. Then it’s up to the Legislature to pass the law changes necessary to make them a reality.
By the way, if you go to the Statehouse in person to watch the show, and you don’t want to climb all those steps, just take the elevator.
www.thegazette.com
According to its website, the nine-member board’s duties are “To adopt definitions and rules for the safe and proper installation, repair, maintenance, alteration, use and operation of elevators, escalators, and related equipment.”
But under preliminary recommendations from Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Boards and Commissions Review Committee, the Elevator Safety Board is going down. The board would be eliminated, and its duties likely would be folded into the Department of Inspections and Appeals and Licensing.
But some Iowans stuck up for the Elevator Safety Board and dozens of other boards and commissions slated for elimination or consolidation during a public hearing this past week.
“In the seven states where I have branch offices, the state of Iowa has risen to the top due in large part to the Elevator Safety Board and the regular safety inspections and the safety tests,” said Jeff Schumacher, owner and operator of Schumacher Elevator Company based in Denver, Iowa, with a branch office in Cedar Rapids. His father was a founding member of the board in 2005.
“The state elevator board has done a tremendous job over the years. It’s a volunteer committee. The cost is minimal. I would ask the committee to reconsider that for public safety purposes,” Schumacher said.
Even for those of us who have been watching state government for a long time, the hearing was an educational experience.
For instance, I was unaware of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Board, which under the committee’s plan, would be consolidated or merged. Its duties are “To adopt definitions and rules for the safe and proper installation, repair, maintenance, alteration, use and operation of boilers and pressure vessels.”
Also slated for consolidation is the Electrical Licensing and Inspection Board, which determines who gets an electrical license. Its duties would be overtaken by the Department of Inspections and Appeals and Licensing.
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Same with the Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board, which “was established to administer and enforce the provisions of Iowa law regarding the licensing and regulation of plumbers, mechanical professionals, and contractors. The board issues trade licenses to plumbers, HVAC-refrigeration, sheet metal, hydronic and mechanical professionals, specialty licenses, contractor licenses, and medical gas piping installation certification.”
On the elimination list is the Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators, which “evaluates the qualifications of applicants for nursing home administrator licensure and grants licenses to those who qualify. The Board establishes rules and regulations to ensure the integrity and competence of licensed Nursing Home Administrators and investigates complaints for unprofessional conduct.”
With all the serious problems being reported in Iowa nursing homes, it seems like a strange time to get rid of a board that keeps tabs on how the facilities are being managed.
In each case, supporters and members of these boards insisted that merger or elimination would reduce the number of professional, expert watchdogs, making Iowans less safe. Sure, generally, elevators go up and down, boilers boil, water and gas go through pipes and electricity works. We don’t give them much thought — until something goes wrong.
We also don’t have much information at this point on how all this merging and consolidation would work.
Honestly, I’m not here to defend every board on the chopping block. Whittling down the current list of 256 boards and commissions is probably a good idea.
But this is a lousy way to do it.
As I’ve written before, four members of the six-member review committee work for the governor. A fifth citizen member was appointed by the governor. The sixth member is a deputy attorney general who works for Brenna Bird.
Members have been meeting behind the scenes in two-member subcommittees to skirt Iowa’s open meetings law. People who care about the work done by these boards and commissions were left on the sidelines until this past week’s hearing. Will their testimony carry any weight?
What do you think? Our current GOP regime rarely listens to anyone beyond their political allies and donors.
So it feels like a process with a predetermined conclusion.
Iowans have had precious little time to learn anything about these boards and commissions. If this process had a slogan, it would be, “The less Iowans know, the better.”
In some cases, the recommendations seem to have come from lobbyists for big business interests. In other instances, they seem to showcase contempt for constituencies the governor doesn’t care much about.
Take the recommendation that would merge the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women and commissions representing African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latino affairs and deaf Iowans into the single Iowa Human Rights Commission. More than one speaker at the hearing lamented the loss of commissions that give each of those communities a voice.
But those aren’t the voices the governor wants to hear, especially if they disagree with her on policy.
Is this really the best way to shrink government, by removing Iowans with expertise who receive no compensation and are simply, in many cases, looking out for public safety and the common good? They would seem to embody the essence of public service. The fewer Iowans who take part in our government, the more power devolves to Reynolds-appointed bureaucrats and lobbyists.
The review committee will make its final recommendations later this month. Then it’s up to the Legislature to pass the law changes necessary to make them a reality.
By the way, if you go to the Statehouse in person to watch the show, and you don’t want to climb all those steps, just take the elevator.
Opinion: Is shutting out citizens the best way to shrink Iowa government?
If this process had a slogan, it would be, “The less Iowans know, the better.”
www.thegazette.com
