Iowa Senate GOP's incompetence failed taxpayers

What can you do with $2.2 million in state government?

This year, the Iowa Legislature could have used the money to maintain support for children who need hearing aids and nutritional supplements for people with rare eating disorders. It could have avoided cutting support for Iowans with epilepsy and autism and blindness. It could have maintained full funding for melanoma research at the University of Iowa Hospitals.

Lawmakers could have done all of those things and still had money left over to fund the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State and maintain support for the Iowa Flood Center or the state’s early childhood literacy program.

There’s so much lawmakers could have done with $2.2 million that would help real Iowans deal with serious disabilities, improve the environment or avoid the next disastrous flood. Instead, taxpayers will spend that money to pay for the reprehensible and unforgivably stupid behavior of a few employees of the Senate Republican caucus.

In case you haven’t heard, a jury in Polk County awarded $2.2 million to Kirsten Anderson, the former Senate Republican communications director. Her lawsuit alleged she was fired in May 2013 in retaliation for complaining about sexual harassment and a toxic work environment. The state argued she was fired for poor work performance. Seven hours before her firing, she presented a list of harassment complaints to her supervisor.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/kathie-obradovich/2017/07/19/harassment-lawsuit-reveals-iowa-senate-gops-incompetence/492522001/