Iowa City, Iowa – Former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver is urging Gov. Kim Reynolds to back off policies that he says will force employees to be in unsafe workplaces that have had coronavirus outbreaks.

Culver said in a letter to Reynolds that workers shouldn’t have to risk illness or death or face the loss of their unemployment benefits. He warned that her policy choices “will affect Iowans’ quality of life for generations to come.”

Culver, a Democrat who served from 2007 to 2011, said the current Republican governor’s policies have created an appearance that “powerful business owners have exerted undue influence.”

He called policies “not merely penny-wise and pound foolish – it is just plain wrong,” while urging Reynolds “to reconsider and realign” her approach to give workers more protections.

– Associated Press