DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A legislative budget group is considering a bill that would require Iowa’s cultural affairs agency to keep working on the preservation of old battle flags.
The joint subcommittee that approves economic development funding reviewed a budget bill Tuesday that would require the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs to spend $90,000 on its battle flag project in the next fiscal year.
The bill includes a contingency that DCA could lose other funding if it doesn’t comply with the requirement.
The department announced recently that its longtime work on the flags was complete. Former staff, historians and a lawmaker challenged that assessment, arguing the project was supposed to be more expansive.
A department spokesman says the proposed budget bill may restrict funding to other parts of DCA’s artifacts collection.
