Iowa Accountancy Examining Board
IOWA ARCHITECTURAL EXAMINING BOARD
IOWA Engineering & Land Surveying Examining Board
IOWA Interior Design Examining Board
IOWA Landscape Architectural Examining Board
Iowa Real Estate Commission
Iowa Real Estate Appraiser Examining Board
MINUTES
200 East Grand Avenue, Suite 350, Des Moines | Zoom & Bureau Conference Room
Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 2 p.m.
The meeting was conducted electronically because it is not practical or economically feasible to hold a regular meeting for the limited agenda. Members of the public were able to participate via Zoom or attend in person at the Bureau Office.
Board members present for all or part of the meeting (attended via Zoom):
Accountancy: Lesley Bartholomew, Brad Hauge, Michelle O’Neill, and S. James Smith
Architecture: Scott Hatfield
Engineering & Land Surveying: Todde Folkerts, Jack Jones, and Laura Sievers
Interior Design: Joan Birk, Amy Guhl, and PV Osiago
Landscape Architecture: John Brehm Zoom
Real Estate: Jim Clingman, Jan DeMott, Helen Kimes, Dakotah Reed, and Tanner Westerberg
Real Estate Appraisers: Dan Fuhrmeister, Loretta Laubach, Jordan Maus, and Cody Seeley
Staff present for all or part of the meeting:
Jeff Plagge, Director, IDOB
Larry Johnson, Director, DIA – via Zoom
John Lundquist, AAG – via Zoom
Caroline Barrett, AAG – via Zoom
Brad Horn, AAG – via Zoom
Lori SchraderBachar, Bureau Chief
Robert Lampe, Executive Officer
Renee Paulsen, Executive Officer – via Zoom
Ashley Thompson, PLB Investigator
Demetria Witt, Licensing Specialist
Public present:
None.
Call to Order:
Plagge called the meeting to order at 2:08 PM.
Proposed Alignment of State Agencies
Recommendation to align Professional Licensing Bureau and the Iowa Real Estate Appraiser Examining Board with Department of Inspections and Appeals and Licensing.
Plagge stated per Governor Reynolds’s 2023 Condition of the State Address on January 10, 2023, she has proposed a state government realignment. There are currently 37 agencies in the Governor’s cabinet; the proposal provides for 16 agencies. The proposed bill will need to obtain legislative approval. If the approval is obtained, the changes will go into effect July 1, 2023.
PLB (Professional Licensing & Regulation Bureau) as well as the Real Estate Appraiser Examining Board and Appraisal Management Companies program will be moved to the Department of Inspections & Appeals, which will be renamed the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL). DIAL will include about 900 employees once merge is complete. No layoffs, reductions, structural changes, nor board eliminations will occur at this time. PLB will be moving locations due to the merger. The location and moving date is unknown at this time.
Johnson stated DIAL will be looking into a new licensing platform to be used across the agency. He said there are 4 other licensing agencies that will be moving to DIAL along with PLB and REAP. All professional licensing staff will be located in one department for the state.
SchraderBachar advised all boards can move forward with their rule making at their board meetings.
Recommendation to align IDOB, IID, and IDCU into Department of Insurance and Financial Services.
Plagge explained that the remainder of IDOB will merge with the Division of Insurance and Credit Unions to become the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS). The IDOB, IID and IDCU will remain independent agencies within DIFS. The Insurance Commissioner will be the department head and Cabinet member for DIFS.
The other divisions of the Department of Commerce will move to other agencies and department will be dissolved.
Adjournment
Plagge adjourned the meeting at 2:23 PM.