Five unanswered questions about Iowa governor's staff salary payments

overnor Kim Reynolds has defended her decision to use nearly $450,000 in federal funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to pay salaries and benefits for her permanent staffers.

But her comments at a September 16 news conference, along with information her staff provided to some reporters afterwards, left several salient questions unanswered.

1: How were her staff’s job duties “substantially different” during the pandemic?

The press conference was Reynolds’ first media availability since Bleeding Heartland reported on September 13 that the governor directed CARES Act funding to cover about 62 percent of the compensation for 21 of her employees from March 14 to June 30.

Iowa PBS posted the full video, and I pulled this clip showing the exchange between Reynolds and Kathie Obradovich of Iowa Capital Dispatch.