Restructuring bill would decrease the amount of state agencies
If passed, a bill to make Iowa's government smaller could have a widespread impact on the state services residents of the state depend on.
Right now, Iowa's government is made up of 37 separate agencies. But Gov. Kim Reynold's goal is to reduce that to 16.
The governor and other Iowa Republicans argue this is necessary to streamline Iowa's government and make it more efficient for Iowa taxpayers.
The governor's office says the bill won't fire any state workers. Rather, it will reorganize them. Reynolds said this will save the state nearly $215 million over the next four years if passed.
The governor argued in her Condition of the State address in January that this plan is needed to help state workers do their jobs to provide the best service to Iowans.
But Democrats have raised several concerns on this bill. The bill is more than 1,500 pages long. And some worry that there are small pieces tucked into the bill that will have unintended consequences, taking needed services away from Iowans.
"The reality is, people will not appreciate some of these impacts until after this bill is enacted," said State Rep. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines. "And they are affected by some of the services these agencies used to provide that are no longer able to function the way they used to."
WATCH: Iowans push back on state restructuring.