(Radio Iowa) – The chairman of a House committee says he’s had trouble getting answers from state agencies and he’s drafting bills to try to make more information about federal funding and federal grants available to legislators and the public. Republican Representative Hans Wilz says he doesn’t want to create more work for state agencies and the bills will likely to changed, but he intends to keep pressing.
“Literally I’ve waited for one answer for three years, one question I’ve asked of a department,” Wilz said, “still waiting for it.” Officials from state agencies say one of the bills, as currently written, would hamstring the State of Iowa from meeting deadlines for federal grant applications. It would require legislative approval of any application for more than five MILLION dollars if the state is required to provide matching funds or make some change in state law.
Representatives of a dozen state agencies told lawmakers they have strict guidelines for how federal funding is handled and return unused funds. “I appreciate all the work and effort everybody puts in underneath this ‘Golden Dome’ and on this campus, but if we can’t be more transparent and communicative amongst ourselves, then how do we expect our constituents to feel about what’s going on,” Wilz said.
Another bill Wilz is working on would require state agencies to submit a report to the legislature on the occupancy of state buildings and identify those that are underutilized. Wilz says he’s rather have more conversation than legislation and his proposed bills may have sparked a path to more transparency about the billions of dollars in federal funds that are flowing through state government.
