Reynolds tabs Sukup Manufacturing general counsel to lead state government efficiency task force

DES MOINES — Governor Kim Reynolds is raising concerns about Iowa’s cancer rate and about cell phone use in schools and vehicles — and proposing legislation. Reynolds delivered the annual “Condition of the State” address last night at the Capitol, outlining her policy priorities for the year. She’s asking legislators to require that public schools, at a minimum, ban students from using cell phones while they’re in class.

Later in the speech, Reynolds told the crowd her husband’s lung cancer is in remission and she praised Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver for his fortitude as he undergoes treatment for a brain tumor. Reynolds is asking lawmakers for a million dollars to support University of Iowa research into the factors that may play a role in Iowa’s cancer rates.

Reynolds is issuing an executive order to create a task force similar to the federal Department of Government Efficiency to find more efficiencies in both state and local government, and she’s tabbed a north-central Iowa businesswoman to lead that group. “To build on our success, I’m launching our own state DOGE to find even greater savings and efficiencies in both state and local government, because to pass meaningful property tax reform, we also need to be lean at the local level. I’ve asked Emily Schmitt, general counsel of Sukup Manufacturing, to lead this effort.”

Reynolds says the recent efforts to consolidate state agencies has paid off. “The trajectory of our state is not just impressive, but inspiring. In just a few short years, we’ve turned our state into a national model for bold, get-it-done government, and we’re not stopping.”

Schmitt currently serves on the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Board of Directors and recently had served on a task force looking at ways to increase child care availability in Iowa.