A group of Iowa Democratic lawmakers led by Sioux City Representative Chris Hall has dropped a lawsuit against Governor Kim Reynolds that challenged her use last year of emergency funds to balance Iowa’s state budget.
Gary Dickey, an attorney for the legislators, announced the decision Wednesday, days before a hearing was scheduled to review a state motion to dismiss the case.
Hall filed the lawsuit in January against Reynolds and Department of Management Director David Roederer.
Six other lawmakers later joined the suit as plaintiffs.
The lawsuit claimed Reynolds’ administration acted illegally last fall when it used $13 million from an economic emergency fund to balance a year-end budget shortfall.
Reynolds called the lawsuit political and said aspects of the law were outdated.
The Republican-controlled Legislature changed the law retroactively last session, which Democrats argued showed guilt.
Dickey said the legislative change complicated the lawsuit’s future.
