A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest:
PAY HIKES, STUDIES APPROVED: Members of the Legislative Council on Wednesday approved pay raises of 1.1 percent to cover cost-of-living increases, similar to other state workers, for legislative employees.
The panel also approved eight interim study panels, including five that are statutory committees tracking tax expenditures, fiscal policies, health policy oversight, state government efficiency reviews and the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS).
The three new interim panels were a Health Insurance Mandate Review Committee, a Regents Universities Study Committee and a Brady-Giglio List Study Committee.
A Giglio or Brady list is a list compiled, usually by a prosecutor’s office or a police department, containing the names and details of law enforcement officers who have had sustained incidents of untruthfulness, criminal convictions, candor issues, or some other type of issue placing their credibility into question.
The regents’ study group is required to examine the administrative costs, staffing levels and allocation of staff at the institutions of higher learning governed by the State Board of Regents, as well as graduation and student retention rates for each academic program at each institution and submit a report to the General Assembly by Dec. 15.
