Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand tells Winneshiek County audience he's working to have CARES Act money spent appropriately

State Auditor Rob Sand--a Decorah native--held a video Town Hall with Winneshiek County residents Wednesday.  Most of the discussion was centered on financial matters involving COVID-19.

Sand says he was pleased when Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds decided to return some funds to the state's CARES Act fund which had been spent instead on accounting software and other causes not directly tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.  He told the virtual town hall that the CARES Act money "is money to make the pandemic less miserable," adding that the governor "has thankfully redeployed some of the money."

Sand also discussed the impact COVID-19 has had on the finances of the State of Iowa, noting that when the pandemic first started, people thought the financial impact on state government was going to be "brutal."  Instead, the impact has been mixed and overall the state budget is in good condition, with a large surplus still in the bank.  But Sand believes the state should get that surplus money back into the hands of the public.  Giving it back to people would help small businesses to survive, he says, adding, "we should be doing what we can."