State audit report accuses Iowa Gov. Reynolds of using nearly $450,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds to pay salaries for 21 staff members for 3 months last year and concealing the spending.
State Auditor Rob Sand said a review of the state’s payroll system shows the money was used to pay the Republican governor’s office staff, but it’s unclear why she had to take federal money to pay the salaries.
He wrote Reynolds’ office in October, telling her that paying staff salaries without proper documentation likely wouldn’t get federal approval but said they ignored his suggestion. Alex Murphy, a spokesman for Reynolds, said in a statement that the U.S. Treasury Department had allowed the use of coronavirus relief money to reimburse salaries for governors.
“CARES funding can be used for salaries. That’s very clear in what allowable allocations are,” she said.
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