DES MOINES - AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan issued the following statement regarding Governor Branstad's plan to keep the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum open:
"As an Iowa veteran myself, I understand the importance of the heritage represented by the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum.
"However, the shutdown is having an impact on state government that exceeds the impact to the museum. Nearly two hundred state employees working at the Iowa Department of Public Defense (Iowa National Guard) and Iowa Workforce Development are on temporary layoff with no guarantee that they will be made financially whole. That means that right now nearly two hundred Iowa families are trying to figure out how they will pay their bills despite the loss of income through no fault of their own.
"The safety of Iowans has been imperiled by the shutdown as there now only three Iowa OSHA officers left for the entire state.
"On Monday, the Governor said we need to prevent 'stupid things' from happening as result of the shutdown. Given the state's billion dollar surplus, I call on the Governor find a way to put Iowa Workforce Development and Iowa National Guard employees back to work."
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