Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is creating a new public relations job in her office. The public relations manager will write speeches for the governor and make sure messages about the governor’s goals are consistent across state agencies. The office is also adding to her policy team with new funding from the legislature.
Governor Reynolds’ office is getting a 10 percent budget increase July 1 to hire health and tax policy analysts. But when her office posted a public relations manager opening last week, an Iowa politics blog suggested she was diverting that funding to the PR job, which has a hiring range of $95,000 to $135,000.
Speaking with media in Le Mars Wednesday, Reynolds said that’s not the case.
“It's part of the speech writing team that we’re trying to put together. We’re bringing on additional policy people,” Reynolds said. “We just brought on a new person for DHS (Department of Human Services). That’s an incredibly important policy area. And so, that’s where the new money will go to and that's what we’re hiring.”
Reynolds said she is proud of the policy team that she has, emphasizing, “You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with…and I look forward to building out that team.”
A spokesperson for the Governor’s office said the office has not yet hired a tax policy analyst.
It’s not clear if the funding increase granted by the legislature will help pay for the new PR job. The Governor’s office declined to say where the money for the job is coming from.
