A member of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Iowa DOGE Task Force apologized Monday for his ideas about performance-based teacher pay and IPERS pension plan changes, which he said were “misunderstood,” and sought to clarify his recommendations.
In August, Terry Lutz said his Return on Taxpayer Investment workgroup within Iowa DOGE was recommending a “pay for performance” system that would tie teacher compensation to student outcomes.
He also recommended replacing the state’s public employee pension plans, known as IPERS, with a defined contribution retirement plan for public sector workers. Lutz said the change could be applied to new employees.
On Monday, at the final meeting of the task force, Lutz said his comments were “totally misinterpreted and misunderstood.” He said no one on the committee ever suggested cutting teacher pay. Instead, Lutz said he was focused on increasing teacher pay and providing bonuses to educators who increase student achievement.
“Our national ranking in student achievements have declined significantly over the past several decades, and our children deserve better as they compete for jobs in the future,” he said.
“Our recommendations are about equipping you with more modern tools to help you make an even bigger impact ... If my previous comments led you to believe anything less, then I apologize.”Terry Lutz, Iowa DOGE Task Force member
Lutz also said the committee has never suggested taking IPERS away from current public employees. He said his workgroup is now recommending a reoccurring study to optimize public employee compensation. Lutz said the study could examine a defined contribution plan, and if it is viable, his workgroup recommends giving employees a choice between a pension and a 401(k)-style retirement plan.
“To all our teachers and other public employees, thank you for your service. Our recommendations are about equipping you with more modern tools to help you make an even bigger impact with faster hiring, world-class training and resources to focus on what matters most,” Lutz said. “If my previous comments led you to believe anything less, then I apologize.”
Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown said the latest Iowa DOGE recommendations would weaken IPERS by reducing future contributions and link teacher pay to students’ standardized test scores.
“We all heard correctly the first time the task force announced it would interfere with IPERS and propose another disastrous system for public educators,” he said.
Task Force Chair Emily Schmitt said “words matter.”
“We’ve all learned that time and time over, whether we were younger as kids, and even in business, professional settings here,” she said. “Words matter, and they can pull people in, they can uplift people, but they can also push away.”
Schmitt said the final report will take that into consideration, and it will include data and sources.
“Overall, this is very data driven,” she said. “It is research driven. And it is driven with the mindset that the governor tasked with this group to approach it with: how would you run it as a business?”
The Iowa DOGE Task Force is finalizing its recommendations
The task force is planning to submit its final report to Gov. Kim Reynolds by Sept. 29, and it has not released a list of its draft recommendations to the public.
Task force members described several recommendations during the meeting.
Reynolds Cramer said his workgroup examined Iowa’s workforce system.
“We saw a system that has many strengths, but also one that is fragmented, outdated in places and not always easy to navigate,” he said.
Cramer said workforce training programs should be consolidated and should include a regular review to ensure money is going to programs that are focused on skills needed by employers. He said the state should expand work-based learning opportunities, create a “red tape hotline” and business-led panels to help evaluate workforce programs and remove barriers, and increase training capacity.
Adam Keune of the technology subgroup said technology is now at the heart of how government serves citizens.
“Now is the time to harness technology to improve efficiency, to safeguard resources and to make every interaction between citizens and government simpler and more intuitive,” he said.
Keune said the state should update IT platforms, expand shared services and move away from paper processes. He said the state spent more than $10 million on postage last year.
He also recommended strengthening fraud prevention, improving the citizen experience on government websites, streamlining procurement, extending shared digital tools to local governments and adopting common data governance and artificial intelligence standards.
Lutz said government agencies must streamline hiring, broaden job qualifications to focus more on skills, and invest in professional development and training.
He said local governments should share more services to reduce cost and duplication. And Lutz said his workgroup is recommending streamlining permitting processes and assessing state-owned assets and leases to ensure they are providing a decent return on taxpayer investment.
Reynolds, who created Iowa’s DOGE Task Force with an executive order in February, thanked Schmitt and the other task force members in a statement Monday. She said government can learn from private businesses about how to better adapt to changing needs.
“Iowa can’t continue doing business the same way it has for decades and expect to meet modern-day demands,” Reynolds said. “Our taxpayers deserve a better return on their investment and, by operating more effectively and efficiently, our state will be even better positioned to attract business, grow our workforce, expand our economy and sustain the quality of life we all value.”
She said she will review the DOGE report and share her plans for government changes based on the task force’s recommendations.
