By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds says more than 2600 state employees have transitioned to a different state agency after her state government reorganization plan took effect July 1.

The number of state agencies has been cut from 37 down to 16. Over 500 open positions in state government have been eliminated. Reynolds said the workforce may shrink through attribution, as more as state employees resign or retire.

“We’re going to continue to look at ways that we can be lean and mean and just really provide a one-stop shop for Iowans,” Reynolds said Tuesday.

Reynolds hired a consulting firm to examine how other states operated, examine agencies within the executive branch of Iowa’s state government and come up with a realignment plan to present to the legislature. The governor said that was critical because “my small staff” didn’t have the capacity to do “an enterprise wide assessment.”