IOWA CITY, Iowa -- When Gov. Kim Reynolds' administration arranged coronavirus testing at the office of the governor's biggest campaign donors, it was the first time in weeks and last time ever the state would deploy a testing team to a private business, newly released records show.
Iowa sent so-called strike teams to conduct rapid on-site testing at 17 businesses during the pandemic in 2020, including some of the state's largest and most powerful pork and beef companies, according to long-delayed records released Monday.
At least four of the companies that received strike-team visits are owned by major donors to Reynolds' campaign, including Iowa Select Farms, Lynch Livestock, Prestage Farms and GMT Corp., records show. Employees at the seed company owned by Iowa's wealthiest man, the billionaire Harry Stine, also received testing by a strike team.
About 40 other businesses were sent testing kits by the state or were assisted in getting employees tested at a nearby public test site, according to data released by the Iowa Department of Public Health.
Reynolds also arranged for teams to visit some of the state's largest meatpacking plants, where hundreds of workers would test positive for the virus. More than 4,700 employees at three Tyson Foods plants were tested through the teams in April. Iowa Select Farms is a major supplier of hogs to those plants.
State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, is looking into whether any companies received special treatment in getting strike teams at a time when nursing homes and some local officials were complaining of testing shortages and devastating outbreaks.
The Republican governor and her aides have rejected any suggestion that her supporters received favoritism and say they are proud of their work making testing available to the private sector to keep factories and workplaces open. She said in January that roughly 60 companies requested testing assistance and that all were accommodated, although the records show the majority weren't sent strike teams.
The Iowa Department of Public Health released details of companies receiving testing assistance Monday, three months after The Associated Press requested them under the open-records law.
A strike team conducted drive-thru testing for 33 employees at a corporate office for Iowa Select Farms on July 13, according to the department's data.
Iowa Select is one of the nation's largest pork producers and owned by Jeff and Deb Hansen, who have given Reynolds roughly $300,000 in campaign donations and enjoyed a close relationship during her time in office. The company has acknowledged reaching out to the governor's office to request testing for its West Des Moines office and charitable foundation employees after they had potential exposure to an infected person.