Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds dished out big raises to her staff despite decreasing the state budget

According to a report from Bleeding Heartland’s Laura Belin, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) gave her staff bonuses ranging from 13%-17% after her office received a significant funding increase from the Iowa Legislature earlier this year.

The Iowa state legislature approved a 21% funding boost to Reynolds’ office in April, with her chief of staff arguing the change would make the office “more transparent.” Meanwhile, Reynolds and the Iowa GOP implemented a conservative budget that is expected to decrease the state’s income in 2024. This is due to the party’s heavy focus on tax and education cuts, which they plan to pursue further in the future.

Despite the cuts yielding a projected $1.83 billion budget surplus, the Iowa GOP plans more cuts in 2024.

“Projected revenues are expected to exceed state spending by $1.233 billion this year, setting the stage for the Senate Republicans to seek more income tax relief, while implementing another conservative state budget,” said Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver (R-Grimes).

During her seven-year tenure as governor, Reynolds also proposed but failed to implement a $10 million cut to Medicaid services in 2018, which would have put disability insurance at risk for the now 860,000 Iowans enrolled in the program had it gone through.