DES MOINES, Iowa — A day after Gov. Kim Reynolds said she would be open to legislative meetings regarding issues at the Glenwood Resource Center, House Republicans have responded and will be scheduling a Government Oversight Committee meeting.
“The allegations coming out of Glenwood are concerning," said Speaker Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford). "We take this situation seriously, but at the same time, we don’t want legislators to get in the way of any investigations that are currently taking place,” said House Speaker Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford). “Director Garcia has been keeping me apprised of the situation at Glenwood. At this time, enough information has been made public and I feel comfortable that the Government Oversight Committee can have a productive meeting without jeopardizing ongoing investigations.”
Glenwood is a center for some of Iowa's most disabled adults. Before the legislative session, Republican leadership did not commit to hosting hearings about Glenwood. Now that new information has come to light regarding leadership at the Department of Human Services knowing about the alleged human experimentation going on at the facility, lawmakers said they want to hear more.
Emails were released on Tuesday between former DHS officials.
Tuesday, reporters questioned the governor on why her administration allowed Shults to retire after the Glenwood investigation began.
"We were still in the process- Kelly [Garcia] was walking through, these were allegations- doing the internal and external review and part of that is doing the due diligence and going through the research," Reynolds said, "And so, we also have to make sure that we have adequate information when we make the decisions that we make."
A date for the meeting has not yet been determined. Chairwoman Mary Ann Hanusa (R-Council Bluffs) is currently working with the Department of Human Services to find a time to hold the meeting. More information will be released at a later date.
