The final recommendations left intact some boards that were previously slated for elimination, following stakeholders warning during a Sept. 5 public hearing that their loss would jeopardize millions in federal funding, including the Commission on Volunteer Service and the Midwest Higher Education Compact. The panel recommended reducing the volunteer commission's membership from 19 to the minimum required by federal law.
The state's Board of Athletic Training would instead be merged into the Board of Chiropractic, Board of Massage Therapy, and Board of Physical and Occupational Therapies. At a public hearing last year, athletic trainers said that losing licensing would disincentivize qualified trainers from working in the state and allow unqualified people to work as athletic trainers.
s about offering a fairly unique set of services to deaf Iowans that are required by the particular nature of their disability, said David Faith, a deputy attorney general and committee member.
The duties of many boards recommended for elimination can be assumed by the state agency overseeing them, the report notes, while others rarely meet or were created for a purpose that is no longer relevant.
The panel proposed paying $10,000 to members of the Iowa Board of Regents, Board of Education, and Council on Health and Human Services annually. The position is currently held by the Transportation Commission, Telecommunications and Technology Commission and Racing and Gaming Commission, and the members are paid $10,000 to $12,000 a year.
The committee's chair, Department of Management Director Kraig Paulsen, said during Monday's meeting he thought the process worked well and the committee used feedback from Iowans to revise its recommendations. The committee met with as many boards as possible and received feedback from 85% of the state's boards, Paulsen said.
The process of review and narrowing the boards is important, but he said they can help to get people interested in the processes of state government and allow them to contribute their expertise.
'Is it really important, is it not really important, do they meet enough, do they not meet enough,' he said. bringing new faces, new voices, new people into Iowa's operation, and that's what I want to keep in mind.