Mary Mosiman. (RI photo)
The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division and the Iowa Lottery moved over to become divisions within the Iowa Department of Revenue at the start of the new state fiscal year July 1st.
Department of Revenue Director Mary Mosiman says it’s part of the state realignment plan and there will be some adjustments for both organizations. “Employees are our biggest asset as we all strive to provide the services that Iowans either expect or are required by law so that is something that I am eager to carry out as we progress into the integration phase of alignment,” Mosiman says.
Mosiman spoke to the Iowa Lottery Board at their meeting last week, and says there are a lot of issues to work through. “But I know of no better group of people that has been able to face challenges and seek the opportunities that we know are going to exist out there,” Mosiman says. “So, I’m looking forward to working with the talented leaders at both ABD, Lottery and Revenue as we start the alignment integration phase.”
She says the transition involves internal operations and the public will likely not notice any changes in day-to-day operations. “Our goal is that people should be seen seamless as we make this transition it is intended to provide some streamlining and efficiencies that we believe we can provide at throughout the state,” she says. Mosiman says the organizations had already been sharing some services before the realignment.
“We voluntarily united under the GovConnect Iowa business portal, recognizing that there’s some efficiencies that Iowa businesses could achieve by going to a one stop shop for their sales and use tax license, sales and use tax licenses their alcoholic and their beverage license and their lottery license,” Mosiman says. “So we have been able to successfully do that voluntarily. As we enter the integration phase of alignment. we’re eager to see if there’s other efficiencies that we can provide together.”
Part of the realignment is a review of all state boards and commissions, and Mosiman is not sure if the ABD and the Iowa Lottery boards will stay in place. “I don’t have the answer to that I know that this is an enterprise wide effort to review the various boards and commissions throughout the state of Iowa,” she says. The Iowa Lottery had been a separate authority, but will revert back to being a division under the Department of Revenue. Mosiman says they are giving the integration phase until December of 2024 to make all the adjustments.