DES Moines, Iowa — Governor Kim Reynolds said on Tuesday the election solidified Iowa as a red state.
As Gov. Reynolds points out, even though Democrats ran against Republican’s policies, voters sent an all GOP delegation to Congress and expanded Republicans’ majority at the statehouse. Now, Iowa Republicans are looking at what’s next for the upcoming legislative session.
Gov. Reynolds on Trump Administration Department of Government Efficiency
Reynolds said she plans to keep working to make Iowa’s government more efficient, on top of the government reorganization law she signed in 2022.
Now, with the new Trump Administration launching the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to reduce what Trump says is wasteful spending and excess regulations. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is also joining the fight and is chairing the Senate DOGE caucus.
Governor Reynolds said the federal government can look to Iowa as an example.
“You know, I did DOGE before DOGE was popular,” Gov. Reynolds said. “We started that in Iowa two years ago. I think we are a great example of what the federal government can look to and it needs to be both. It needs to be the federal government that needs to slim down, reorganize. Really, I talk about block grants every time I talk to them. And then the state needs to also look, the states look internally and see where can we save. Where can we be more efficient. Where can we be more effective.”
Update on new Lieutenant Governor for Iowa
Governor Reynolds also gave an update on her plans to pick a new Lt. Governor. Now that the election is over, Gov. Reynolds said she’s wrapped up interviewing candidates.
While she didn’t say how many had their hats in the ring, she said she’s likely to announce someone in the next few weeks.
Iowa’s proposal for Summer food program
Governor Reynolds is also planning to ask the new administration, under Donald Trump, to take another look at Iowa’s summer food box program proposal.
Reynolds said she’s feeling optimistic and is ready to make her case, claiming Trump’s administration is ready to do things differently.
Back in August, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services submitted a waiver to opt out of Summer EBT and instead provide summer meal boxes to low income families.
Reynolds said doing so would feed 60,000 more children than the Sun Bucks program.
Some pushed back on the proposal and said the program should compliment Summer EBT, not replace it. They also argued the USDA doesn’t have the authority to approve it since it’s so different than Summer EBT.
However, Gov. Reynolds pushed back on that idea.
“I’ve had everyone of my agencies put together a list of some of the roadblocks that we’ve encountered over the last couple of years so we can take them to the administration through the various agencies and just say, ‘hey, here’s some opportunities where we believe we can do it more efficiently, effectively,'” Gov. Reynolds said. “We can get more dollars on the ground in the hands of programs, thereby really serving the citizens in a better way.”
