DES MOINES — A Democratic state senator on Wednesday asked Republican
Gov. Terry Branstad to provide specifics on incidents of elder abuse,
child abuse and sexual misconduct involving state employees that the
governor cited in comments to reporters earlier in the week.
Sen.
Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
told Senate colleagues during a floor speech that he was disturbed to
read Branstad comments to reporters that state employees had been
dismissed for incidents of elder abuse, child abuse and sexual
misconduct that have gone unreported to the public because of employee
confidentiality agreements and personnel protections in state law.
Asked
during Monday’s weekly news conference how many incidents of abuse or
assault by state employees are taking place, Branstad responded, “I
don’t know, but there are a lot of them.”
Hogg said the governor
“laid down some very serious allegations” that beg for more information.
He wrote the governor’s office requesting details about the incidents,
when they happened and within which state agencies, as well as
information on when the governor’s office was informed about the
allegations and how the administration responded.
“It is
unacceptable to have state employees, if it’s true, engaging in criminal
conduct, and it’s also unacceptable to not have that criminal conduct
reported to the proper authorities,” Hogg said.
“We need to know
for each incident when the governor’s office was informed, and for each
incident, we need to know what the governor or his office did in
response to the information that they were provided,” the state senator
said. “There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, if not hundreds of
thousands of Iowans, who when confronted with allegations of child
abuse, elder abuse or sexual abuse, are under a legal obligation to
report that to law enforcement authorities, and I would certainly hope
the governor’s office has met that standard.”
Before a town hall
meeting in Newton Wednesday, Branstad said he was unaware of Hogg’s
request but noted it points up his concern that Iowa law makes personnel
items confidential that cannot be disclosed. He said that’s why he is
asking the Legislature to change the law to allow more disclosure and
hoped Hogg would work with his administration to accomplish that “and
not just play politics.”
Branstad said state government has “a few
bad apples” who have been guilty of the offenses he cited but
“unfortunately the law doesn’t permit us to release that. I think it
should be available to the public in the future.”
During his
weekly news conference, Branstad called on state lawmakers to ease what
he considered to be overly broad confidentiality protections for state
employees who are dismissed or disciplined for inappropriate on-the-job
action.
Branstad told reporters it is not enough to prohibit
secret employment settlements from taking place as he directed last week
in an executive order.
“I want to see us go further and also
require the reasons for the dismissal also to be made public,” he said,
noting that some workers have been cited for incidents of abusing
elderly Iowans and children or for sexual misconduct that have not been
publicly disclosed.
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Senator wants information about Branstad’s allegations of state employee abuse
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