Iowa state Sen. Janice Weiner released the following statement regarding the Boards & Commissions Review Committee meeting on Wednesday taking public comment on proposed board and commission mergers and eliminations.

“Today we heard from dozens of Iowans concerned about the negative consequences of eliminating and merging critical boards and commissions,” Weiner said. “We owe it to the people of Iowa to take those concerns seriously and make decisions based on what’s best for Iowans – not just the governor’s office.”

“State boards and commissions bring essential expertise into our state government and ensure public accountability for the public’s business,” Weiner said. “I support a thorough review of our boards and commissions, but the Reynolds administration needs to slow down and fully engage the public before it does anything that could affect our health and wellbeing.”  

“The Reynolds administration created an unaccountable committee to conduct this review and then set an arbitrary deadline for completing it,” Weiner said. “It’s clear to me that the goal of this sham process is to increase power for the governor – not Iowans.”

Weiner, D-Iowa City, is an ex-officio member of the Boards & Commissions Review Committee and serves on the Senate State Government Committee and Local Government Committee. 

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