The League of Iowa Human & Civil Rights Agencies

The head of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission warns there’ll be delays in investigating complaints of discrimination because budget cuts have sharply reduced his staff of full-time workers. Ralph Rosenberg’s agency investigates claims of discrimination on the basis of race, age, sexual orientation and other factors. He told a budget panel at the statehouse that more and more of the commission’s work is being done by volunteers. “We now have more people who are not staff working for our agency than we have staff,” Rosenberg said. “That’s a way for us to stretch our budget because we realize that – currently and for the future – we’re not going to have additional state dollars.” One lawmaker questioned how consistent the commission can be with volunteer help, but Rosenberg calls it a short-term fix for tough budget times.

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