IOWA — Iowa lawmakers say that they are well aware of the possible human experimentation that happened at a state-run facility.
The Glenwood Resource Center is under investigation by both the state of Iowa and the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged sexual arousal experiments performed on people with disabilities.
At a forum leading up to the 2020 Iowa Legislative Session on Tuesday, Republicans said they’re keeping in touch with the Department of Human Services and will decide what to do as the investigation moves further along.
“I personally met with the director, recognize the severity of the situation,” said Speaker-Select Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford), “but I think for us to just sit here and start having meetings before we even reach the bottom of what’s going on with that situation is a bit premature.”
However, Democrats say there needs to be more urgency about the situation.
“We had requested that committee take a look at all DHS facilities as we’ve seen a number of alarming issues,” said Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen (D-Des Moines).
House Minority Leader Todd Prichard (D- Charles City) said, “We can’t be afraid to investigate just because we may not like what we find.”
Leaders of the Republican Party aren’t opposed to stepping in eventually.
“I would be surprised if the legislature does not take some level of action. I’m just not going to make any predictions on what that may or may not be at this point,” Grassley said.
Grassley also said that the investigation will be likely be included in the budget for 2020.
“I won’t speak for the governor, so I’m probably going to be a little more vague than you want me to be, but I don’t know from the dollar and cents perspective, but I think the legislature, as we’re developing the budget, should be prepared that that’s a part of it even if it’s not in the governor’s original budget.”