A spokeswoman said the money is predominantly supporting salary costs for its roughly 550 sworn officers, who include road troopers and criminal investigators.
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration is using $10 million in federal pandemic relief funds to pay the salaries of state police officers, who have played only a small role in Iowa’s virus response. The expense is listed in a state report as going toward “State Government COVID staffing” at the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The report claims the money will support payroll expenses for employees “whose services were diverted to a substantially different use as a result of COVID-19.” Department spokeswoman Debra McClung said the money is predominantly supporting salary costs for its roughly 550 sworn officers, who include road troopers and criminal investigators. They have largely carried on their routine duties during the pandemic, including enforcing traffic laws and helping local police investigate crimes. McClung did not provide examples of how any duties had changed. Instead, she said the spending appears to be allowable under revised guidance from the Treasury Department, which said in October that payroll expenses for public safety employees are presumed to qualify as pandemic-related. The same guidance document, however, says qualifying expenses are intended for employees who “have been diverted to substantially different functions” as a result of the emergency, such as a police officer who has been reassigned to enforce a stay-at-home order.
