IowaPolitics.com: Five More Workforce Development Offices Close Their Doors

By Lynn Campbell 
IowaPolitics.com 

DES MOINES — Unemployed Iowans who had a state government office in their hometown to help them find a job, write a resume or prepare for an interview now must go online, make a phone call or drive up to 80 miles. 

Five Iowa Workforce Development, or IWD, field offices closed Monday, moving forward with a plan that the governor called “effective” but Democrats portrayed as heartless to more than 100,000 unemployed Iowans. 

“I don’t see how this is helping anybody,” said Danny Homan, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa, or AFSCME, Council 61, which represents 40,000 public employees. He said affected Iowans likely won’t have enough money to make the drive and get the help they need.

The state on Monday closed field offices in , Clinton, Muscatine, Newton and Storm Lake, following the closure of 31 smaller, part-time field offices at the end of August. Together, the closures spurred about 77 layoffs and are expected to save about $5 million in state and federal money.

Affected state workers in all 36 field offices received layoff notices in August because of union contract requirements, said IWD spokeswoman Kerry Koonce. Some workers will have the right to “bump” less senior employees to get a job in another area. Koonce said this process likely won’t be complete until the end of November at the earliest. 

“We have a new strategic plan to better and more effectively deliver those services,” Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday told IowaPolitics.com. “The whole idea is to have a much more effective way of doing it. We recognize that federal resources are being reduced. The state has a limited amount of resources. Yet at the same time, we want to do all we can to make sure people know there are job opportunities available and where they are available.”

Iowa had an estimated 100,400 unemployed workers as of September. IWD's IowaJobs website on Monday listed 24,339 job openings.

The state’s plan calls for unemployed Iowans to help themselves find a job with computer software installed in 1,042 computer work stations or “access points” in 335 locations statewide as of Friday, including libraries, colleges, armories, faith-based organizations and probation offices. The access points and a toll-free number are available 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. 

Homan told IowaPolitics.com that the access points are a “joke,” because computers don’t provide the same level of assistance as a person, and some people don't know how to use them.

“I believe that the losers in the closure of the Iowa Workforce Development offices are the citizens of this state who are unemployed," Homan said.

Homan on Aug. 24 joined five Democratic state lawmakers in suing Branstad over the closure issue. Iowa Senate File 517 required the state to maintain all IWD field offices, but Branstad line-item vetoed that language in late July. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 21 in Polk County District Court.

“The closing of offices in both rural and urban areas is counter to the needs of Iowans during an economic recovery,” said state Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, who also is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "Frankly, it is the dumbest policy move I have seen in my time in public service.”

Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers said the pending litigation has no impact on IWD field office closures, because the plaintiffs have not requested immediate injunctive relief. He said the closures were planned before the lawsuit was filed.

The governor maintained that under his administration, state agencies are trying to have a much more service-oriented approach.

“We’re public servants,” Branstad said. “We have an obligation and responsibility to try to provide those services in the most economical way, but also in the most accessible way to the people that need them.”

State Rep. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, co-chairman of the Legislature’s Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee, who supported the bill that would have kept the IWD field offices open, denounced the lawsuit.

“The lawsuit is political in nature, and it is curious that any House Democrats would bother supporting the lawsuit, as none of them voted to support the efforts to keep any of these offices open,” Schultz said. “In fact, they voted against the appropriation bill that could have maintained these offices.”

The Iowa Senate approved Senate File 517, the appropriations bill that contained language to keep the field offices open, 36-11 on June 24. The Iowa House approved the bill 52-35 on June 27; most of the “no” votes in the House came from Democrats.

A dozen “New Iowan Centers,” or NIC, in Muscatine, Postville, Iowa City, Ottumwa, Mount Pleasant, Des Moines, Sioux City, Orange City, Council Bluffs, Mason City, Denison and Carroll also are being phased out. 

The centers, created in 2000 under former Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack with the help of a federal grant, targeted immigrant and refugee populations and helped people who recently moved to Iowa and were seeking employment. The centers employed 19 people, according to the IWD website, and were credited with helping thousands of people find jobs. 

“The NICs were always part of the current offices, just branded separately. We did away with the separate branding,” Koonce said.