State Auditor Rob Sand hosted a town hall meeting at Carroll’s Southside Park on Thursday afternoon to discuss his office’s latest work for the state. Sand addressed the twenty individuals attending, informing them of the reports he said needed to be highlighted that were out-of-the-ordinary investigations for the state official. This year, a partnership between the auditor’s office and a non-profit organization called Opportunity At Work was established to make specific government jobs more easily accessible to individuals, specifically those without a college degree.
The Auditor’s Office identified 28 additional state-paid jobs where the description says a four-year degree was preferred or required with no justification as to why. By reporting the findings to the respective administrations, Sand hopes that requirement will be lifted, allowing for military, trade-school or experienced workers to fill in the gaps of job shortages. The next big topic of discussion was on the recent report that was released last week on the Department of Education (DOE) on the Education Savings Accounts.
Sand says it took his office around six months to receive the documents from the DOE to gather this information. He related the situation to a credit card fee sometimes used at restaurants or stores. The DOE reported wanting to use state funding from the general account instead of taking money per pupil from the ESAs. Sand says that should concern Iowa residents, as that funding is taxpayers’ dollars, paying a private corporation out of state.
While Sand said he cannot force any changes from the DOE, he can at least bring the issue to the public’s attention and recommend other solutions to solve it. Sand also mentioned a program his office initiated when he came into this term, the Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) program, congratulating two Carroll County towns that participate.
A link with more information on the Auditor’s PIE program has been included below.
