(Radio Iowa) – The head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office for 15 years and 27 auditing officials from other states are raising concerns about a Senate bill that would limit the Iowa State Auditor’s ability to investigate state agencies.

The Republican who led debate on the bill Tuesday night said it would keep information private that’s not relevant to an audit. The president of the National State Auditors Association says limitations in the bill should be eliminated to protect the auditor’s ability to investigate “waste, fraud and abuse.” State Auditor Rob Sand said the bill guts the ability of the professionals in his office to conduct audits.

“This is the single most pro-corruption bill that has ever come out of the Iowa legislature,” Sand said during a news conference in his statehouse office.

Rob Sand. (RI photo)

The bill creates a process that lets state agencies refuse to give the state auditor’s office documents and it would forbid the state auditor’s office from going to court to get access to that information. “Any agency could bury any document that they don’t want to be seen in the light of day,” Sand said. “I think that’s dangerous and irresponsible.”

David Walker, the former Comptroller General of the United States for Presidents Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes, issued a written statement about the bill. Walker said it “undercuts” the independence of the Iowa State Auditor’s Office and parts of the bill “are inconsistent with Generally Accepted Government Accounting Standards.” Sand says he hopes legislators heed these concerns.

“We have experts from around the country who are saying that this is a terrible idea,” Sand said, “…that we are going to impact the state’s bond rating, that we are going to impact the state’s credit rating, that we could risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars that the federal government provides for services here in Iowa.”

Sand is the only Democrat currently serving in statewide elected office.

(Dallas County, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol reports a crash between a car and a box truck this (Thursday) morning near Perry, claimed the lives of two juveniles and resulted in critical injuries to a third juvenile. The three are all siblings, from Jamaica (IA). KCCI reports Daisy and Walter Fuentes Gavidia died in the crash. Their sister, Edlyn is in the intensive care unit. The Perry School District, where the teenagers were students, is offering counseling services at the high school from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday. The family’s pastor has started a fundraiser to support the family.

The Patrol says a 2007 Toyota Camry driven by one of the juveniles was westbound on Highway 141, west of the intersection of Diagonal Road, at around 7:45-a.m.  Authorities say there was heavy snowfall and a 100% covered road.

The car went out of control, spun and entered the westbound lane. A westbound 2020 Volvo box truck driven by 56-year-old Orris McKay, of Carthage, IL., was traveling westbound. McKay steered right and braked, in an attempt to avoid the collision, but was unsuccessful. The truck hit the car on the passenger side.

Multiple agencies assisted at the scene. There have been 47 fatal crashes on Iowa roadways so far in 2023. That’s six more than at this point in 2022, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. In total, 338 people died in crashes in Iowa last year.

DES MOINES- The Department of Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer is excited to announce more than 50 public town hall style meetings to get feedback from everyday Iowans on digital services, including broadband, in their area. We want to hear  from Iowans of all walks of life on how they use the internet and digital services in general. If you ever felt like the digital world is passing you by, for whatever reason, this is your chance to speak up and help Iowa identify ways to help you and your community.

Attendees will hear a short presentation on digital services followed by a discussion with the audience on the barriers and potential solutions for full participation in the digital aspects of society. All meetings will start at 6 pm at the designated locations and are anticipated to last about 90 minutes.

In this area, the town hall-style meetings will be held in:

• Atlantic, April 11, Iowa Western Community College, 705 Walnut St, Atlantic, IA 50022
• Carroll, May 9, DMACC 906 N. Grant Road Knott Commons, Carroll, IA 51401
• Clarinda, April 3, Lied Public Library, 100 E Garfield St, Clarinda, IA 51632
• Council Bluffs, March 29, Council Bluffs Public Library, Meeting Room B, 400 Willow Ave Council Bluffs, IA 51503
• Creston, April 12, Creston Public Library, 200 W Howard St, Creston, IA 50801
• Denison, May 8, Denison Public Library, 1403 1st Ave S, Denison, IA 51442
• Guthrie Center, May 10, Guthrie Center Public Library, 400 Grand St, Guthrie Center, IA 50115
• Red Oak, April 10, Red Oak Public Library, 400 N 2nd St, Red Oak, IA 51566
• Shenandoah, May 11, Shenandoah Public Library, 201 S Elm St, Shenandoah, IA 51601
• Winterset, March 29, Winterset Public Library, 123 N 2nd St, Winterset, IA 50273

For more information, please contact broadband@iowa.gov.

If you need to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact Maria Guevara at maria.guevara@iowa.gov by no later than at least 7 days before the event you will attend.