The Iowa Senate passed Senate File 478 Tuesday night on a 33-16 party-line vote, with every Republican in favor and every Democrat opposed. The House has not taken up the legislation.

The bill would limit the state auditor's access to records for auditing purposes. Information such as criminal files, hospital records, student records, peace officers' reports and attorney work product would be off limits unless both the auditor and the entity that is being audited agree that the information is relevant.

Sand said letting agencies that are being audited pick what information the auditor can see means they "could bury any document that they don't want to be seen in the light of day."

"Under this bill, any time the entity that we are auditing doesn’t want us to look at something they can say, ‘We’re not letting you see that.’ That alone is a violation of auditing standards," Sand said at a news conference Thursday. "Under auditing standards, the auditor has to be independent. What good is an audit if you can’t look where you want to look?"

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