The complaint centers on state agencies refusing to disclose the number of sexual harassment cases that have been filed with them in the last few years. Democratic Rep. Amy Nielsen takes issue with the administration of Gov. Kim Reynolds and the state’s HR head, and says taxpayers who have already dished out more than $7.5 million in settlements in the last two year should know about other outstanding cases.
“I just think we need to come clean and say, yes we have a problem here, this is how bad it is and here's what we're doing to fix it," she said. "If we don't know where we started from, we can't know if we're decreasing the occurrences and fixing the culture that's permeated the statehouse.”
A spokesman for Reynolds said Nielsen wants sensitive information that is required to remain confidential under Iowa law. Nielsen contends the information she wants would not identify individuals.