DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand is joining a 14-state effort to track each state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sand says the effort is bipartisan, and will audit how the states report and monitor COVID-19 cases. The other states involved have both Democratic and Republican state auditors.
The other states involved are Delaware, Pennsylvania, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, and Tennessee. Three states chose not to be named. The District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are part of it as well.
Sand called the $26 million TestIowa program illegal earlier this month, saying it violates a law requiring immediate reporting of results to the state department of health. He said the results are sent to two private Utah based companies involved in the TestIowa program before department receives the results.
The 14 state auditing effort is set to start this fall.