Democrats Threaten to Sue Over Elimination of Tobacco Prevention Director

By Lynn Campbell

From IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES — Two Democratic state senators allege a department director broke the law when she eliminated the administrator's job at the Iowa Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control.

State Senators Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, and Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, said Friday that Iowa Public Health Director  violated state law this week when 60-year-old Bonnie Mapes' administrator job at the agency was eliminated.

“There’s a law and everybody has to obey the law,” said Quirmbach, a non-voting member of the state’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Commission. “This is not something that one has any discretion over. The law is clear.”

Hatch, co-chairman of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, threatened legal action Friday against Miller-Meeks in her capacity as public health director if the situation isn’t remedied.

 “She’s in violation. If she doesn’t change shortly, then I’m sure there will be legal action,” Hatch said. “The only legal action you have left … is sue her in district court. Any citizen can do it, the commission can do it, a legislator can do it. It will not go unnoticed.”

, on Monday left her administrator's job of almost seven years because her division's budget was cut from $7.2 million to $3.2 million, and her position was eliminated.

Miller-Meeks, who has been in Boston all week at a meeting of new public health directors, told IowaPolitics.com on Monday that Mapes' departure was a "budgetary issue" in a year of spending cuts. She said Mapes had put forth a plan that she would resign as a way for the division to deal with the budget cuts.

But at a meeting Friday of the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Commission, a panel of nine voting members and eight non-voting members that oversees the division, Quirmbach alleged that Miller-Meeks' action was a violation of chapter 142A.5 of the Iowa Code.

That section of the law states that the state public health director "will employ a separate division administrator ... in a full-time equivalent position whose sole responsibility and duty shall be the administration and oversight of the division."

Hatch said eliminating Mapes' job was a choice and while Republicans had proposed no funding for tobacco cessation programs, Democrats secured $3.2 million.

"I think that's red herring," Hatch said. "I hope the media does not allow the governor or the director to use the legislative negotiations in the end and the amount of money that we appropriate as the excuse for destroying the focus on prevention."

In a written statement released Friday, Miller-Meeks, a member of Republican Gov. Terry Branstad's administration, defended the legality of eliminating Mapes' position.

"The department received counsel from the attorney general's office as we explored the options available to meet the Legislature's and commission's priorities of funding the Quitline and community partnerships," Miller-Meeks said in the statement. "The department's actions are within those statutory requirements."

Yet Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Commission member Gary Streit of Cedar Rapids said he shared Quirmbach's concerns about the elimination of Mapes' job and the focus away from tobacco prevention.

"It's very concerning as a commission member, as a citizen of our state, that we are abandoning some of our principles; We may have limited resources, but the tobacco companies don't," Streit said. "We've completely abandoned this as a priority in this state, which is just beyond comprehension in my mind."

Streit called for a resolution by the commission urging the continued existence of division, no changes to the law dealing with the tobacco prevention division, and making effective tobacco control programs a priority of the state. Commission member Chris Squier of Iowa City seconded the motion and it was approved on a voice vote.

Iowa's progress against smoking and tobacco usage has included passage of the Iowa Smokefree Air Act in 2008, which bans smoking in most public places including restaurants across the state. Citing data from the American Cancer Society, lawmakers said Iowa's adult smoking rate of 18.8 percent is now the second-lowest in the nation, and youth smoking dropped by 13 percent from 2000 to 2008.

"We should be data-driven, we should be driven by what's factually proven to be effective, and to not have our programs float in the winds of public opinion," Streit said. "We're going to throwing away 10 years of hard work, very effective programs, to get back to a time when we see more Iowans smoking, more Iowans dying of tobacco usage."

Hatch said efforts in tobacco cessation are critical so people hear the truth about the effects of smoking.

"My mother died of emphysema. Every family has that kind of relationship somewhere in their family or their friends," Hatch said. "This is something that is very personal to people. One of the best public policies we can give to the state of Iowa is a strong prevention program."

Miller-Meeks said Friday that smoking prevention efforts will continue, despite the latest budget cuts.

"Our efforts directed toward prevention will continue, especially in the arena of social media which is becoming an extremely important resource in public health," she said. "Combining our efforts with other departments and state agencies in a collaborative fashion will further enable us to reach out to youth with prevention messages. Additionally, many of our federal grants have a tobacco prevention requirement targeted at both youth and adults, so we will persist in our engagement."

The mission of the Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control, according to its website, is to establish a comprehensive partnership among state government, local communities, and the people of Iowa to foster a social and legal climate in which tobacco use becomes undesirable and unacceptable.

On a personal note, Mapes said she was upset Monday because Quirmbach wrote a letter to the editor distributed to newspapers statewide that she Mapes was "quietly fired," when she said she wasn't. Mapes said she took early retirement because her position was eliminated due to budget cuts.

Iowa Senate Democrats offered no public apology Friday. However, Quirmbach proposed and the commission approved a resolution thanking Mapes for her service and outstanding leadership.