AP
7/1/23
Iowa’s auditor may face new challenges in tracking taxpayer dollars after a new law takes effect today that allows state agencies to deny his office access to information.
State Auditor Rob Sand, the single Democrat in statewide office, has described the law as a politically motivated attack on accountability. Going forward, a state agency is not to provide the state auditor’s office access to confidential information not deemed necessary to the auditor’s responsibilities. Republican lawmakers who support the law say the changes will protect Iowans’ privacy and that it should not affect Sand’s work. But it also could mean agencies more often withhold information from Sand’s office.
If a dispute arises, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds is empowered to appoint a tiebreaker vote to an arbitration panel, on which Sand and the agency involved each will have a representative. That gives two of the three voices on the panel, whose decision is final, to Reynolds’ administration.
Sand emphasized his record of avoiding partisan politics, asserting he employs senior staff from both sides of the aisle, has provided opportunities for agencies to undo errors and regularly defends the Republican administration’s actions.
