Iowa Down Ballot

We’re less than a week away from the first funnel week in the Iowa legislature, so Kathie thought it would be fun to talk about our ‘favorite’ bills so far this session. Kathie starts us off with a bill to make it illegal for commercials to be louder than the show on streaming services, and a bill that gets rid of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.Dave brings up the bill that was introduced to bring the Chicago Bears to the state of Iowa. The team is looking for a new stadium, so some Iowa legislators are trying to seize the opportunity.Laura’s ‘favorite’ so far this session was a bill that was introduced that limits lawmakers to no more than 10 bills per session. She also added a bill that would end county moratoriums on renewable energy installations such as wind turbines or solar panels.We end the show with discussion of republican house lawmakers pushing for new restrictions on public libraries in the state. (A quick note from Laura to correct the record, the bill banning school partnerships with public libraries passed out of the House Education Committee on Wednesday, February 4--not this past Wednesday the 11th.) The team goes over the changes that are being introduced and how that would effect libraries.Thanks for watching/listening/reading we really appreciate all of you! Please consider becoming a paid subscriber if you are able :)Happy Valentine’s Day, have a great weekend!AI Generated Transcript Below: Get full access to Iowa Down Ballot at iowawriterscollaborative.substack.com/subscribe

It was a busy week in the Iowa Legislature, and the team starts with the House education committee grilling Des Moines Public School officials on their hiring of former superintendent Ian Roberts. Republican legislators tried to blame DEI for Roberts’ hiring. Officials from the school say they were looking for someone with a history of working with a diverse school population. That conversation segues into Laura giving us an eyewitness report from an explosive House subcommittee meeting focused on eliminating affirmative action, “minority grants”, and nondiscrimination language about citizenship in state licensure.Kathie then highlights the work Clark Kauffman has done for Iowa Capital Dispatch regarding nursing home safety violations. That dovetails with the legislature killing a bill that would have allowed ‘granny cams’ to be used in nursing homes.We finish off this week’s discussion with campaign news. We start with the competitive republican primary race in Iowa’s 4th district in the NW part of the state possibly narrowing down soon. The Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats has endorsed Adam Steen in the governor race, does that help narrow the race to a Steen vs. Feenstra battle?Thanks for being a part of the show however you consume it. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber if you are able to help cover our production costs. Have a great weekend, we’ll see ya next week!AI generated transcript below:(00:00:01):Hi, and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot Podcast.(00:00:04):I am Dave Price, joined by the regulars, Kathie.(00:00:07):They’re not regular, but they are consistent contributors.(00:00:11):Nothing about these two women is regular.(00:00:13):Kathie Obradovich and Laura Belin.(00:00:15):Hello, ladies.(00:00:16):Hello.(00:00:16):Thanks for not calling us odd.(00:00:20):I bring the oddity to this conversation.(00:00:22):Thank you.(00:00:24):I had a conversation with somebody a couple of weeks ago, a friend, probably about my age.(00:00:29):And we talked about one of the blessings of adulthood and really middle age hood.(00:00:36):Is that a thing?(00:00:37):Middle age,(00:00:37):dumb,(00:00:38):whatever you call it when you’re in middle age,(00:00:39):is that you just sort of embrace what you are,(00:00:41):right?(00:00:42):Like I remember in high school,(00:00:43):I was in the band and I had good grades and,(00:00:47):you know,(00:00:47):I was a skinny little,(00:00:50):from the beginning of high school especially and so you know it would hurt when(00:00:54):somebody would call you a dork or a geek for being smart or a band geek or what(00:01:00):have you blah blah blah until and then at some point in your life you sort of(00:01:05):embrace being different and you know all those things don’t really matter you’re(00:01:08):like somebody thinks I’m smart cool(00:01:11):They think I’m dorky.(00:01:12):I’ll take that.(00:01:14):Well, you would have been just my type back in high school, apparently.(00:01:18):We would have had much in common.(00:01:19):I was a debate geek.(00:01:21):See, there you go.(00:01:23):There you go.(00:01:24):Well, anyway, happy Friday to you both on a pretty pleasant Friday, right?(00:01:28):I mean, it’s windy, but not all that bad.(00:01:30):This is another thing you talk about once you hit middle age.(00:01:33):You just talk about the weather all the time, right?(00:01:35):Especially if you live in Iowa.(00:01:36):Yeah.(00:01:38):We’re supposedly obsessed with the weather.(00:01:40):Yeah, exactly.(00:01:41):I got a nice long walk yesterday after getting out of the state state house.(00:01:45):It was outstanding.(00:01:47):My dog got a very nice long walk last night, which she desperately needed.(00:01:51):And she slept like a baby overnight.(00:01:53):So it was a gift for all of us, for our whole household.(00:01:56):We do,(00:01:57):just as a little insight for all of you fine folks who join us every week,(00:02:02):we have this email that goes back and forth between the three of us where we kind(00:02:06):of talk about,(00:02:07):hey,(00:02:07):what’s on your mind?(00:02:07):What topic should we talk about?(00:02:09):Whatever.(00:02:10):Laura,(00:02:10):as she frequently does,(00:02:12):ruins the plan because she emails back this morning with this long,(00:02:17):lengthy email that(00:02:19):about the 500 gazillion things that happened at the Statehouse this week.(00:02:24):And she’s not wrong, because all of those things are worthy.(00:02:28):Our challenge is how in the holy heck we’re going to get to all of them, so we’re not.(00:02:33):We’re going to hit as many as we can,(00:02:36):and we try to be respectful of everybody’s time and try to be about 30 minutes or(00:02:40):so,(00:02:41):which means I should shut up now,(00:02:44):and let’s get into some of those.(00:02:45):So, Laura, you and I were at...(00:02:48):the same uh house committee meeting or whatever day that was wednesday wednesday(00:02:55):okay and so they brought in a couple folks from des moines public school so you had(00:03:02):the interim superintendent matt smith and you also had the school board chair um(00:03:11):kim how do you say your last name i think it’s mar toronto(00:03:15):Or Toronto.(00:03:15):Yeah, I think so.(00:03:17):Okay, so they’re sitting kind of at the end of the table, and they had somebody with them.(00:03:22):She’s an attorney for the district.(00:03:24):Okay, okay.(00:03:25):To help out.(00:03:26):Well, I think, is it Allers and Cooney?(00:03:28):She’s with one of the law firms.(00:03:29):Okay, fair enough.(00:03:31):And so, Laura, I’m curious...(00:03:34):What your thoughts were as an observer to this?(00:03:38):I have been, I mean, there are a gazillion things to follow about this, right, with Ian Roberts.(00:03:43):Obviously,(00:03:43):the guy somehow was one of these unique characters who was inspirational to a lot(00:03:49):of people,(00:03:50):but he was a liar about a lot of stuff too,(00:03:53):right?(00:03:53):So he really inspired people,(00:03:55):but he also really,(00:03:56):really disappointed people,(00:03:58):and he broke laws on top of it.(00:04:00):And so in the end, it probably cost Jackie Norris her U.S.(00:04:05):Senate campaign.(00:04:06):She used to be the chair of the Des Moines School Board,(00:04:09):and she took a lot of flack for what happened.(00:04:12):And Republicans had kind of made her sort of a central target, really, with a lot of this.(00:04:16):But, Laura, what did you take from the questioning?(00:04:19):It went on for quite a while, maybe an hour and a half, two hours.(00:04:23):I think it was close to an hour and a half.(00:04:25):Okay.(00:04:26):so i thought the questioning was a little bit strange i mean the republican members(00:04:32):of the house education committee were very focused on a few things first of all(00:04:37):wanting to get the des moines school board or school district representatives to(00:04:42):admit that it was their fault and they made a mistake and they were responsible so(00:04:47):The school board chair walked through this report that they had this third party(00:04:51):investigation of what happened and really laying more of the blame on this(00:04:55):consulting firm.(00:04:55):Which was out in November.(00:04:56):It was the same report.(00:04:57):Right.(00:04:57):The report was out in November.(00:04:59):The school district has sued the consulting firm that was involved,(00:05:03):that recommended Ian Roberts as a candidate and so on.(00:05:07):But the other issue that just kept coming up again and again was pressing the Des(00:05:12):Moines School District on.(00:05:13):Was he hired because of diversity initiatives, the policies that the board had in the future?(00:05:20):Are they going to be looking at DEI when they’re hiring again?(00:05:23):Of course,(00:05:23):they’ve given this interim superintendent,(00:05:26):Matt Smith,(00:05:26):I think he has a two-year contract,(00:05:28):so they’re not actively searching for a new superintendent right now.(00:05:31):But(00:05:32):There was a real heavy focus on that aspect of it.(00:05:38):And I just think it reflects a broader obsession that some of the Republican(00:05:42):legislators have with DEI.(00:05:44):And they had acknowledged that it was a priority for(00:05:49):in their conversations with that search firm to find somebody who had experience(00:05:55):essentially in a diverse district like Des Moines.(00:05:57):And Des Moines is kind of a unique district in our state,(00:06:00):both in its size and the makeup of the student body,(00:06:03):which,(00:06:04):I mean,(00:06:05):they said up front that was a priority.(00:06:06):They never did say(00:06:09):She never did say that they were under any directive to hire a person of color for(00:06:16):this position because you have a lot of students who are of color.(00:06:20):It more so was just you wanted somebody with they just wanted somebody with(00:06:23):experience in a district such as theirs with that makeup.(00:06:28):Yeah,(00:06:28):and State Representative Eleanor Levin,(00:06:30):who’s one of the Democrats on the committee,(00:06:32):she asked for more information just about the diversity of the district and some of(00:06:37):the statistics that they shared.(00:06:39):I mean, they have 15% of the students have some kind of a disability, so they have an IEP plan.(00:06:47):About 25% are English language learners.(00:06:50):The white students make up about 40% of the district.(00:06:54):So,(00:06:54):I mean,(00:06:55):it is a very diverse district and it is,(00:06:58):like you say,(00:06:58):unlike any other school district in the state of Iowa.(00:07:01):Of course, it’s also far larger than any other school district in the state.(00:07:06):I’ve done stories in the past for TV on the diversity of the district.(00:07:11):I will say that that stat about the 25% were ELL surprised me.(00:07:16):I didn’t realize it was that high.(00:07:18):Yeah.(00:07:19):And I think, did they say 70% are on free or reduc

We start this week’s discussion with a recap of President Trump’s visit to Clive on Tuesday. Trump spoke for a little over an hour, and stressed the importance of keeping republican control of congress. The President also highlighted new John Deere jobs being created in other states, while the company has downsized in Iowa in recent years. The team also discusses how to cover a president that stretches the truth as much as Trump. We also get into the effect Trump’s stop will have on Rep. Randy Feenstra’s run for governor. Feenstra was not given a speech slot on stage, and was not highlighted much during Trump’s remarks. Congressman Zach Nunn, who likely will have a tough race in Iowa house district 3, did speak before Trump and touted some of his bipartisan bona fides. Laura has been following the lawsuit Donald Trump filed against the Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer last year regarding Selzer’s presidential poll in 2024, and she gives us an update on the hearing she attended Friday just before we recorded. Kathie takes us home with information from a piece her reporter at Cami Koons at Iowa Capital Dispatch recently published about the eminent domain/carbon pipeline issue. This has been an ongoing issue in the legislature for several years, and there’s still contention within both the republican and democratic parties in the state.Thanks for following along whether you’re watching, listening, or reading. Please pass us along to a friend, and please consider contributing financially thru a paid subscription if you’re able. Have a nice weekend!AI generated transcript below:(00:00:01):Welcome, everybody, to the Iowa Down Ballot Podcast.(00:00:04):I’m Dave Price,(00:00:05):joined by Kathie Obradovich and Laura Belin,(00:00:08):a couple of our regular contributors,(00:00:11):like regular,(00:00:11):you’re on like every week,(00:00:13):but also regular contributors to the Iowa Riders Collaborative,(00:00:17):which is just taking over the state by storm.(00:00:19):Hello, ladies.(00:00:20):Happy Frigid Friday to you.(00:00:23):Yes, it is.(00:00:24):It is plenty chilly today.(00:00:27):Oh, yes.(00:00:28):This is going to be one of those conversations we can hopefully park in the back of(00:00:32):our mind for fast forward a couple of months when we’re whining about,(00:00:35):man,(00:00:36):it’s so hot and humid outside.(00:00:38):You can’t go anywhere.(00:00:41):Exactly.(00:00:42):okay so we had a vip visit to our great state this week president donald trump(00:00:49):returned first time in 2026.(00:00:50):i don’t know if they have a do they have a name of this tour thing that he’s doing(00:00:55):all these midterm stops he’s doing all over the place but to my knowledge we are(00:00:59):the first one right we were the first yes okay um there’s a lot of different ways(00:01:07):we can we can dig into this but um(00:01:11):He went, I should have timed it.(00:01:12):It was like an hour and four or five or six minutes or something like that, I remember.(00:01:19):Kathie,(00:01:20):so many ways we can go on this,(00:01:21):so many things he brought up,(00:01:22):but big picture,(00:01:24):his theme...(00:01:27):I don’t know if Walmart still uses low,(00:01:29):low prices,(00:01:30):but he had like lower prices,(00:01:32):I think,(00:01:32):and the signs all over the place.(00:01:34):So while he was kind of mocking Democrats,(00:01:37):not kind of,(00:01:37):he did mock Democrats for using the word affordability,(00:01:40):which he used to talk about when he ran in 2024,(00:01:43):but clearly they’ve realized they need to talk about financial stuff,(00:01:49):right?(00:01:50):Like it wasn’t ice, it wasn’t(00:01:54):election is rigged signs it was lower prices so yeah he i mean he did uh of course(00:02:01):uh complain about uh everything that he complained about before he was elected i(00:02:07):mean it was like it was sort of a i mean if you played this speech um and then(00:02:13):compared it to one that he you know during his um(00:02:18):election campaign here,(00:02:20):you know,(00:02:22):two years ago,(00:02:23):you probably would have trouble figuring out,(00:02:27):OK,(00:02:27):when what was the most recent one?(00:02:29):I mean,(00:02:30):it was all of his greatest hits and,(00:02:33):you know,(00:02:33):including,(00:02:34):you know,(00:02:36):blaming Joe Biden for everything.(00:02:39):So, I mean, I was I listened to it from home because I also had a reporter covering the(00:02:45):uh republican gubernatorial uh debate uh the same night so um so i was you know i(00:02:53):was watching it waiting it’s like okay is this news is this news is this news it’s(00:02:57):like it got pretty far into the speech before i was like okay but this may be all(00:03:01):we get um he did not talk about um the ice uh situation up in minnesota at all he(00:03:09):did you know make mention of(00:03:12):some of the immigration talking points that we’ve heard before.(00:03:16):But so I think that really the point of the speech was to persuade voters that the(00:03:22):economy is,(00:03:23):you know,(00:03:24):great,(00:03:26):or at least much better than they seem to think it is,(00:03:30):and to try to undermine Democrats’ major talking points for the midterms.(00:03:35):Also, he made a very, I would say, very blatant or very(00:03:42):like,(00:03:42):uncoded plea to his base saying,(00:03:46):you know,(00:03:46):all of the things that we accomplish that you like will be undone if we lose the(00:03:52):House or the Senate in the midterms,(00:03:55):which is not exactly...(00:03:57):true because he would still be the president and so legislation that comes through(00:04:02):a democratic house or senate doesn’t have to be signed into law by him but anyway(00:04:05):he’s he is I think a saying and I think he also said several times that the party(00:04:15):who holds the presidency typically loses at least half the Congress during the(00:04:22):midterms and don’t let that happen to me so(00:04:27):The deja vu aspect of it,(00:04:29):I like that he’s still calling former state Senator Brad Zahn the Marlboro man.(00:04:34):And he’s still talking about how Brenna Byrd endorsed him so early.(00:04:38):So that was funny.(00:04:39):I mean,(00:04:40):I think from a news perspective,(00:04:42):to me,(00:04:42):the most newsworthy part was that he said that he’s going to sign,(00:04:47):he’s going to do year-round E15 ethanol.(00:04:49):But I thought he did that when he was running, didn’t he?(00:04:52):Well, he, so here’s the thing.(00:04:54):That was in(00:04:56):There was a year-end funding bill at the end of 2024, and year-round E15 was part of that.(00:05:01):And the members of the Iowa delegation were already posting on social media and(00:05:06):bragging about how they got this into the bill.(00:05:08):And then at the last minute,(00:05:10):this was before Trump was even inaugurated,(00:05:12):but he and Elon Musk basically blew up that funding deal.(00:05:16):in December of 2024,(00:05:17):and when they came up with a new continuing resolution,(00:05:21):it didn’t have E15 in it anymore.(00:05:23):So arguably, it’s Trump’s fault that this isn’t already law right now.(00:05:28):But in any case, he said that he was going to do that.(00:05:31):I thought that was interesting.(00:05:33):He didn’t, though.(00:05:34):He said that he was going to he trusted Speaker Johnson and he basically threw it(00:05:42):back at Congress and he didn’t say he was going to do anything.(00:05:45):You know, he just said he’s for it.(00:05:47):He’ll sign it.(00:05:48):But he’s he is, you know, he trusts Congress to do it.(00:05:51):And guess what?(00:05:52):We’ve got a funding package going through right now.(00:05:55):uh today um which may or may not get through today we’ll see what happens but um(00:06:01):e15 you’re on e15 is not in it um but chuck grassley’s already um you know put(00:06:06):sending guest columns around complaining about it so so he did not get it done well(00:06:12):okay well he anyway he he promised that it’s something that he would sign i thought(00:06:16):it was an awkward moment for me was when(00:06:19):He went on and on, and the Iowa Democratic Party was all over this.(00:06:23):He went on and on about how John Deere,(00:06:25):They’re opening a plant in North Carolina.(00:06:28):It’s going to be really great.(00:06:29):John Deere, great company.(00:06:31):They’re expanding.(00:06:32):And of course, Deere has laid off hundreds of employees this year.(00:06:36):Thousands.(00:06:37):If you go back the last two or three years, it’s thousands.(00:06:40):But just this year alone, it’s hundreds.(00:06:42):So I thought that that was that.(00:06:45):I mean,(00:06:45):the crowd didn’t seem to react to it,(00:06:47):but I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from Democrats about that.(00:06:51):Okay,(00:06:52):there’s so many things I wanna talk to you too about this,(00:06:54):but I would like to talk to you both as reporters,(00:06:59):just to share a challenge I have.(00:07:02):And that is, I struggle with Trump more than any politician I’ve ever covered.(00:07:08):And my role in TV is like,(00:07:10):I’m not an opinion guy,(00:07:11):and we’re trying to,(00:07:12):you try to play,(00:07:13):I don’t wanna say down the middle,(00:07:14):but whatever the right neutrality is,(00:07:16):whatever.(00:07:17):I really struggle,(00:07:20):with especially with trump when he has an hour plus speech there are so many things(00:07:24):you can try to tackle right and for me on tv i get a minute and a half two minutes(00:07:29):to blab about it or do a story on it or whatever so that always is super hard the(00:07:33):one thing though that he does for me that’s challenging is that he says(00:07:40):certain things that are clearly not true in the and it’s not it’s not just that(00:07:46):like um you know Kathie’s sweater is um yellow for those of you watching you know(00:07:53):that it’s not yellow but you know something that’s demonstrably not not no

Hope you’re staying warm and safe wherever you may be. Iowa lawmakers wrapped up their second week of work on Friday, and a bill banning carbon pipeline constructors from using eminent domain has already passed the house. We dive into the bill as well as the politics on both sides. Dave filled in to host Iowa Press on Iowa PBS this week and majority house leader Mike Klimesh was the guest, so Dave also has a fresh perspective on the republican leadership’s plans. We also discuss how the democrats may vote on an eminent domain bill in the senate. Property tax reform is the other priority for republican legislators this session. It’s a complicated issue, so we try to unravel what may end up being in the plan. We close out the show with a quick preview of President Trump’s scheduled visit to Clive on Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for being a part of the Iowa Down Ballot podcast however you consume the show, we’ll see ya next Saturday morning :)AI generated transcript below:(00:00:01):Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast.(00:00:05):I am Dave Price,(00:00:06):joined by Kathie Obradovich and Laura Bell and two of my colleagues from the Iowa(00:00:11):Riders Collaborative.(00:00:12):We are joining you on a Friday where even if we squint super,(00:00:17):super hard,(00:00:18):we cannot see a temperature of zero because it is unfairly cold outside.(00:00:25):It’s ridiculous.(00:00:26):I was out, had a meeting this morning and then another errand and my car just went.(00:00:37):I did not want to start.(00:00:40):That is your car’s way of telling you, hey, dummy, go back in the house.(00:00:44):It’s too cold.(00:00:46):Go home and go in and put your slippers on.(00:00:49):I did,(00:00:50):I filled in on Iowa Press today and I wore my winter coat,(00:00:54):which my mother-in-law fixed for me because I had popped a button off.(00:00:58):So they’re in town and she fixed it for me, which was super nice.(00:01:01):As I’m walking from the parking lot out at Iowa Public TV or Iowa PBS now,(00:01:07):I’m walking to the building realizing as I reached into my pockets,(00:01:11):I did not put in my gloves for the winter because I haven’t worn this coat the(00:01:15):whole year.(00:01:16):I was thinking,(00:01:17):You are really dumb.(00:01:18):It’s 10 below zero.(00:01:20):And I have a long walk and carrying all my stuff.(00:01:23):I can’t even put my hands in my pocket.(00:01:24):And I was thinking, man, that is not a good move.(00:01:29):And we’re Iowans.(00:01:30):We should know better.(00:01:32):But we also know that it’s temporary, right?(00:01:35):Like I told my mother-in-law, I mentally prepare for this every year.(00:01:38):Like,(00:01:39):You know,(00:01:39):there’s going to be one butt-kicking,(00:01:43):obnoxiously cold day that you question all of your life’s choices.(00:01:50):And you’re thinking, can I do this from a warm climate just for a little bit?(00:01:54):But then, you know, whatever.(00:01:56):We get through it.(00:01:58):I’m just glad I didn’t have to go up to the Capitol today.(00:02:03):So I’m just glad because that long walk uphill from where I parked.(00:02:08):up to the capitol building it’s freezing and there’s always ice and you’ve got that(00:02:14):howling wind and you’re thinking is this really worth it couldn’t i just watch the(00:02:19):live stream of something happening today why must i be there all right enough of(00:02:24):the weather report um we had so we just wrapped up week two of the iowa legislative(00:02:30):session and there are two biggies that are on my mind and to set the stage i(00:02:35):mentioned(00:02:36):as I was yakking here early that I filled in on Iowa Press,(00:02:40):and this week the guest was the new Senate Majority Leader,(00:02:44):Mike Clemish.(00:02:45):So truthfully,(00:02:46):a few of these topics are right at the top of my mind because I just talked at(00:02:49):length with him.(00:02:50):But I’d like to start this week our chat with where things are with eminent domain(00:02:59):which feels like one of the, sexy is not the right word because we’re talking about politics.(00:03:04):What’s the right word?(00:03:05):Most intriguing, the juiciest, like the parlor intrigue kind of story, the house of cards stuff.(00:03:13):I don’t know what the right thing is.(00:03:14):Yeah, it’s buzzy.(00:03:16):Yeah, Buzzy.(00:03:17):Buzzy.(00:03:18):All right, so Kathie, set the stage for us here.(00:03:20):So we’ve heard some ideas now.(00:03:22):House has actually already passed something remarkably quick.(00:03:27):The Senate Republicans have an idea of what they want to do, particularly Klemish.(00:03:34):And Klemish,(00:03:34):by the way,(00:03:35):said that he’s told us today that he will be the floor manager for eminent domain(00:03:41):on the Senate side.(00:03:42):So he will lead this through.(00:03:43):Maybe a little bit unusual as...(00:03:46):as the majority leader, but he’s going to kind of take the lead.(00:03:49):So kind of set us up here, Kathie, where do things stay?(00:03:52):So I am not clear yet whether the House and Senate have even a conversation about(00:04:00):being on the same page.(00:04:01):So the House moved away from the bill that the governor vetoed last year.(00:04:08):And this this strikes me as being kind of an in your face to her.(00:04:13):It’s like, well, you didn’t like(00:04:15):our sort of complicated look at restricting or dialing back eminent domain.(00:04:21):So we’re just going to give you a flat ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.(00:04:30):And that is what they passed.(00:04:31):I mean, already raced through the House and they pass it on the floor this week.(00:04:39):And I sent it to the Senate where it will die.(00:04:43):I’m fairly confident in predicting that.(00:04:45):And as you said, Senator Clemish has actually proposed two bills.(00:04:51):He is the only sponsor of those bills,(00:04:53):at least as of the last time I looked,(00:04:55):and he was not saying how many of his colleagues are willing to vote with him on(00:05:01):these bills,(00:05:03):one of which I think we may have talked about a little bit.(00:05:06):It’s basically a version of an amendment that was offered last year in the Senate(00:05:12):that would let the carbon pipelines,(00:05:14):and we’re talking about summit here at this point,(00:05:17):Summit Carbon Solutions to take the route that the utilities,(00:05:22):Iowa Utilities Commission approved for them and,(00:05:25):you know,(00:05:26):sort of color outside the lines a little bit to try to go around,(00:05:32):you know,(00:05:32):never,(00:05:33):you know,(00:05:33):the the never,(00:05:36):never,(00:05:36):never property owners who are never,(00:05:39):ever going to sign.(00:05:41):no matter how much money they offer.(00:05:43):So to color out the sidelines a little bit and try to go around some of those(00:05:47):property owners and to limit to what extent you have to use eminent domain to force(00:05:53):easements on unwilling property owners.(00:05:55):So that’s the one idea, which he talked about before the legislative session.(00:05:59):The second one,(00:06:00):which is really interesting,(00:06:02):and it’ll be really interesting to see how many of his colleagues support him on(00:06:05):this,(00:06:06):is actually taxing the carbon that is running through this pipeline.(00:06:11):Um,(00:06:12):and,(00:06:13):uh,(00:06:13):so,(00:06:14):um,(00:06:15):so a new tax,(00:06:17):um,(00:06:17):first of all,(00:06:17):um,(00:06:19):something that the summit people,(00:06:20):I can’t imagine that they would want,(00:06:23):um,(00:06:23):this,(00:06:24):uh,(00:06:24):although maybe he’s,(00:06:25):he’s,(00:06:26):um,(00:06:26):framing it as we’ll take this,(00:06:29):you know,(00:06:29):if you want,(00:06:30):if you want any sort of wiggle room on eminent domain,(00:06:32):take this,(00:06:33):I don’t know.(00:06:34):So a tax on carbon.(00:06:37):And so, like I said, neither of these bills have been in subcommittee yet.(00:06:42):We don’t know how many Republicans would actually support this legislation and the(00:06:49):pressure on them from even Republican groups.(00:06:56):in very Republican counties, Republican, you know, are putting pressure on this issue.(00:07:02):So I think it’s, as you said, there’s a lot of intrigue.(00:07:07):There’s a lot of inner party drama here.(00:07:12):That didn’t end last year when 12 senators said,(00:07:16):we’re not voting for budget bills until you deal with this.(00:07:18):So...(00:07:20):Well,(00:07:21):at the press conference where Senator Klemish laid out this plan,(00:07:25):I asked,(00:07:28):do you have 26 votes for this proposal?(00:07:31):And he said he wasn’t going to comment on internal politics of the Senate Republicans.(00:07:37):i think it’s a pretty safe bet that he doesn’t have 26 republican votes for that(00:07:40):because a dozen republicans i think it ended up actually being 13.(00:07:44):there was a dozen who promised not to support any budget bills until there was this(00:07:49):eminent a vote on eminent domain but i think in the end 13 republicans voted for(00:07:54):that house bill last year so i think the senate democrats actually hold a lot of(00:07:59):cards here because(00:08:01):There are quite a few Democrats who support the pipeline in principle because it’s(00:08:06):something that labor unions want,(00:08:09):but they also want to say that they’re protecting property rights.(00:08:13):So I think Klemish may have to make some kind of a deal with(00:08:17):the senate democrats and i don’t know what they would want in exchange but i think(00:08:21):that we’re headed toward another stalemate because there’s no way the house(00:08:24):republicans are going to take this klemish proposal assuming it does get through(00:08:29):the senate i just can’t see it getting anywhere in the house and the last thing i(00:08:33):wanted to say about that the severance tax i think that he was calling it the fee(00:08:37):o

We spend the bulk of the show with Governor Reynolds’ penultimate condition of the state address. Protestors in the rotunda made their presence felt during the speech, and property tax reform was a big theme. We discuss the details and possible ramifications of the governor’s plan. Another focus in the speech was tackling the state’s cancer problem, so we get into the proposals and their possible effect. We cap off the show with what stories the gang are working on for the week ahead.Thanks for listening, watching, or reading we really appreciate all of you for following along. We’ll be back next Saturday, see ya then!AI generated transcript below: Get full access to Iowa Down Ballot at iowawriterscollaborative.substack.com/subscribe

The gavel drops to begin this year’s legislative session on this Monday, January 12th. We have a full breakdown of the changes in leadership to start off our discussion, as well as the incentives for the legislators to wrap up the session on time this year. Governor Reynolds and republican House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann quarreled over the governor’s veto of the eminent domain bill last year, so we’ll see if that battle carries over into this year’s negotiations. Iowa Down Ballot is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Our eminent domain preview segues into likely the biggest issue of this year’s session, property tax reform. Republicans have promised property tax changes for a couple years now, and it seems it will be difficult again this year to get a bill done and passed.Thanks to everyone for the welcome back and welcome to our new subscribers. We’ll see ya next Saturday!AI generated transcript below:(00:00:01):Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast.(00:00:05):I am Dave Price,(00:00:07):joined by our regulars,(00:00:09):Kathie Obradovich of the Iowa Capitol Dispatch and Laura Bellin of Bleeding(00:00:14):Heartland.(00:00:14):Hello, ladies.(00:00:15):Happy Friday.(00:00:17):Happy Friday.(00:00:18):Good to see you.(00:00:20):Good to see you both.(00:00:23):All right, we look ahead to next Monday, which starts the Iowa legislative session for 2026.(00:00:29):And then all kinds of speeches.(00:00:31):You have the condition of the state address by Governor Reynolds on Tuesday.(00:00:35):We have condition of the judiciary, condition of the guard.(00:00:38):So a lot of speeches for week one.(00:00:41):Not a heck of a lot necessarily gets done, as we know, but it does perhaps lay out(00:00:46):some themes of the week.(00:00:48):Kathie,(00:00:49):we want to get into some of the topics that we pretty much know will be big ones(00:00:55):this session.(00:00:55):But before we get into issues,(00:00:58):what is the thing that kind of piques your curiosity about 2026 as far as the(00:01:04):legislative session goes?(00:01:06):Well, we all want to know as reporters how long it’s going to be.(00:01:10):And they always hate that question, right?(00:01:11):That is,(00:01:12):you know,(00:01:14):the old saw,(00:01:15):and well,(00:01:16):actually,(00:01:17):it is literally supposed to be 10 days shorter than the first year of the two-year(00:01:24):General Assembly.(00:01:25):And,(00:01:26):you know,(00:01:27):it ends 10 days early so that lawmakers can get out on the campaign trail as an(00:01:32):election year.(00:01:33):However,(00:01:34):we have learned that it being an election year does not always mean that they will(00:01:39):get done even on time,(00:01:41):let alone early.(00:01:43):And they’ve got some really big issues on their plate,(00:01:45):which will go through issues that they are not going into session with.(00:01:50):you know, hand-holding and singing kumbaya about.(00:01:54):So I do, and you add to that a tough, what I think is going to be a very tough budget year.(00:02:01):And so you’ve got all of those things working against them.(00:02:06):So I’m not currently making any vacation plans for even the second week of May yet.(00:02:13):I think that we’re(00:02:14):We’re in for maybe a long haul here,(00:02:17):trying to get enough of these issues resolved so that lawmakers feel like they can(00:02:23):go out onto the campaign trail with some accomplishments.(00:02:26):And of course, we should point out that after 100 days, they lose their per diem.(00:02:32):So there is a financial incentive to wrap things up on time,(00:02:38):if you will,(00:02:39):and a financial disincentive.(00:02:41):Especially if you’re not a Des Moines metro legislator and you have to pay for a(00:02:45):place to stay and all of that kind of stuff.(00:02:48):I mean, that does tend to maybe up the pressure a little bit.(00:02:51):Well,(00:02:52):and even bigger financial disincentive is that they can’t raise money during the(00:02:56):legislative session.(00:02:57):You know, they can’t accept donations.(00:03:00):Yeah.(00:03:02):Any of them that have primary races are going to want and need to get out of(00:03:07):session and be able to collect donations.(00:03:11):Yeah, that’s why I think they are going to be done before May.(00:03:14):I’m just going to be bold and predict that even though the budget’s going to be(00:03:17):hard and I don’t think they...(00:03:20):I think it’ll be harder to get to a property tax agreement than they imagine it will be.(00:03:24):But so many of the Republican incumbents have primary challengers.(00:03:29):I think that they are not going to let it stretch into mid-May.(00:03:32):But what I’m most watching is whether relationships between the Senate Republicans(00:03:38):and the House Republicans improve at all under new leadership in the(00:03:44):They just the lingering resentments over eminent domain and other issues make it(00:03:50):hard for them to cooperate.(00:03:52):I would take that and add the governor into that to make a trifecta of(00:03:56):relationships for exactly the reason you point out about eminent domain.(00:04:03):And she’s a lame duck, which last year she only announced in April.(00:04:06):So the last month or so of the session,(00:04:09):she was a lame duck,(00:04:10):but she didn’t go into last year’s session as a lame duck.(00:04:12):We all thought she was running again.(00:04:15):So let’s talk about the leadership dynamic, because both chambers have a new leader in the mix.(00:04:20):Bobby Kaufman in the House and Senator Clemish as the majority leader in the Senate.(00:04:28):Kathie, what do you make about the leadership changes?(00:04:30):Maybe to piggyback off what Laura said about the kind of bad blood that we saw last(00:04:35):year with eminent domain debate.(00:04:37):Does that does that maybe help things get off to a clean slate?(00:04:42):Not necessarily.(00:04:43):I mean,(00:04:44):Bobby Kaufman,(00:04:45):before he was elected majority leader,(00:04:47):I think boldly declared that nothing with the governor’s name on it was going to(00:04:51):get through the House if he had anything to say about it.(00:04:55):And now he has a lot to say about it.(00:04:57):Now, you know, maybe he was just blowing off steam and, you know, that’s entirely possible.(00:05:04):It seems unlikely that...(00:05:09):None of the governor’s initiatives will make it through the House and certainly not.(00:05:14):I mean, there’s there’s bound to be.(00:05:16):She always will come up with some bipartisan,(00:05:19):for example,(00:05:21):proposals,(00:05:23):you know,(00:05:23):so I kind of doubt that that will happen.(00:05:26):But.(00:05:27):We also haven’t necessarily seen any public displays of unity at this point.(00:05:36):The Iowa Capitol Press Association had a legislative forum this week and couldn’t(00:05:42):get the Republicans to come to the table.(00:05:46):And I think that the House would have if the Senate had agreed.(00:05:53):So I think they’re still not in unison.(00:05:55):Yeah.(00:05:57):Bobby Kaufman makes a lot of bold statements and doesn’t always follow through on them.(00:06:03):So he’s not going to hold up absolutely everything.(00:06:06):But the governor,(00:06:07):I think the fact that the governor created this nuclear energy task force last week(00:06:12):indicates that she knows that her energy bill,(00:06:15):which nuclear energy was a big part of her energy bill that she introduced last(00:06:20):year.(00:06:20):And I think she senses that’s not going anywhere.(00:06:23):She’s just going to try to do bits of it on her own by executive order.(00:06:28):And it wasn’t the nuclear part of that that was really controversial.(00:06:31):I think it was electrical.(00:06:32):But I mean, it was but it was all it all got tangled up in the same problem.(00:06:38):Yeah.(00:06:38):And I should mention,(00:06:39):by the way,(00:06:40):that bills that were introduced last year,(00:06:42):by and large,(00:06:42):are still alive this year.(00:06:45):You know,(00:06:45):they some of them get re-referred to committee and some may have to start,(00:06:51):you know,(00:06:51):anew.(00:06:53):But, you know, a lot of the issues that we talked about last year as being(00:06:58):you know, dead bills, whatever.(00:07:02):Most of those still have some life left in them.(00:07:05):It doesn’t mean that they’re likely to move because,(00:07:07):you know,(00:07:07):a lot of them,(00:07:08):if they didn’t have the support last year,(00:07:10):they’re not going to have it this year.(00:07:13):But it does mean that some of those bills don’t have to start from scratch,(00:07:16):including the governor’s energy bill.(00:07:19):Always a reminder to me that I always recommend to staff that we do not waste a lot(00:07:25):of time on what’s dead because things come back from the dead.(00:07:32):as we have seen different times, whether it’s that year or the next year.(00:07:37):Laura,(00:07:39):now you mentioned about Bobby Kaufman making bold predictions and what have you,(00:07:43):but I would have loved to be a fly on the wall.(00:07:48):I have no idea if this has even happened yet,(00:07:52):but a one-on-one conversation,(00:07:54):whether it would be on the phone or sitting down face to face between the governor(00:07:59):and(00:07:59):and Leader Kaufman.(00:08:01):I don’t know if such a thing has happened,(00:08:03):but the things...(00:08:05):I don’t know what you two thought,(00:08:08):but he was so outspoken about her and against her after her veto last year of the(00:08:18):eminent domain bill that...(00:08:23):I think I was really surprised how much he said publicly.(00:08:26):Like,(00:08:27):I get it,(00:08:28):you know,(00:08:28):if you’re really ticked off behind the scenes and you blow off before,(00:08:32):maybe in caucus or in front of the staff or whatever,(00:08:35):but to be wil

We are glad to be back! Thanks to all of our subscribers, new and old, we are beginning our first post-hiatus show with a general preview of what our reporters think will be the headline stories of the new year.We all agree this 2026 election cycle may be one of the most exciting in decades with competitive primaries on both side of the aisle. With Governor Reynolds and Joni Ernst out of the race we’ll have open primaries for both governor and senate this year. That republican primary for Governor could be especially hard to handicap at this point, and we do a deeper dive on that race towards the tail end of the show.The economy, as always, will be a big story both locally and nationwide. We’ll see how the effect of tariffs will continue impact the state. Also, the cost of healthcare continues to rise, including for farmers and self-employed individuals on the Affordable Care Act options. How will those increases effect the electorate this year?We’ll be back next week with a legislative session preview for 2026.Thanks for watching, listening, and reading, we appreciate you!AI generated transcript below:(00:00:01):Hi, happy 2026.(00:00:04):The Iowa Down Ballot podcast is officially back.(00:00:10):We need like balloon drops, right, ladies?(00:00:13):Confetti.(00:00:14):Happy New Year.(00:00:15):It's been a minute.(00:00:17):Welcome back to Laura Bellen and Kathie Obradovich.(00:00:20):How are you both?(00:00:22):Fabulous, thank you.(00:00:23):Good.(00:00:25):As we were joking before we started recording,(00:00:27):we all just tore it up for New Year's Eve,(00:00:30):as we are known to do,(00:00:32):so we needed two days to recover.(00:00:35):It's hard for me to even say that out loud because it's so ridiculous for anybody(00:00:39):who knows me that those days are long gone.(00:00:45):I did not see the New Year ring in.(00:00:46):Oh, you did not.(00:00:49):I may have celebrated New Year in London or something like that, which was six hours earlier.(00:00:58):Okay, Grandma, you're in bed by six.(00:01:03):I was finishing my write-up of the special election in Senate District 16,(00:01:07):thanks to somebody who scheduled the election for December 30th.(00:01:11):I was finishing an article on New Year's Eve, so that was very exciting.(00:01:15):You can ring in the new year like that.(00:01:17):That will have significance in 2026, which kind of tees us up.(00:01:21):I thought that for our welcome back gathering as we begin 2026,(00:01:26):and we'll have extensive coverage in the weeks ahead of the Iowa legislative(00:01:31):session,(00:01:32):which starts,(00:01:33):as we record,(00:01:33):about a week and a half from now on Monday.(00:01:36):But I thought maybe let's more broadly look at 2026, midterm election, legislative session.(00:01:43):We have some economic things to think about.(00:01:45):And I thought we would start off maybe by just hitting, let's pick one thing to start us.(00:01:53):Laura,(00:01:53):as I look at my screen,(00:01:54):you're in my top left,(00:01:55):so I'm going to make you go first as our leadoff hitter.(00:01:57):But pick one thing that piques your curiosity for 2026.(00:02:04):It's just going to be the most fascinating election cycle ever, Dave.(00:02:08):But if I can only... You sound like a politician.(00:02:11):The stakes could not be higher.(00:02:13):But really, truly, I mean, it is going to be a wild election year.(00:02:17):But I would say if I could only pick one thing...(00:02:21):it would be this republican primary for governor because it is a weird primary(00:02:27):shaping up don't do two good ones in one thought you're supposed to limit one(00:02:32):thought can you please save the save the republican primary lady that's on my list(00:02:36):here that's for later okay sorry do just the overall election and why is it so(00:02:43):fascinating and maybe compared to the last couple(00:02:47):Well,(00:02:47):there are a lot of competitive primaries for a lot of offices,(00:02:50):federal and state on both sides.(00:02:52):So,(00:02:52):I mean,(00:02:52):I think a lot of people stepping up to run for office and I'm interested to see how(00:02:56):it all shakes out.(00:02:58):Okay.(00:02:59):We'll take that.(00:02:59):Thank you.(00:03:00):All right, Kathie, what's top of your list?(00:03:02):Okay.(00:03:02):This is a kind of a subset of Laura's, but I know you're going to let me get away with it.(00:03:08):Where's the mute button on this thing?(00:03:12):And that is, will the success that Democrats have had in the special elections of 2025(00:03:20):carry into 2026?(00:03:21):And if so, how?(00:03:24):So, I mean, these were legislative races.(00:03:28):I wouldn't necessarily expect them to have legs above,(00:03:34):you know,(00:03:34):this is a down ballot podcast,(00:03:36):right?(00:03:36):But there's a lot of top of the ticket stuff to talk about.(00:03:40):But,(00:03:40):you know,(00:03:40):whether the special elections,(00:03:43):which frankly did generate a lot of life and momentum for Democrats,(00:03:48):does this(00:03:49):you know,(00:03:49):translate to,(00:03:50):you know,(00:03:51):above the legislative races on the ballot and how or whether that momentum and life(00:03:58):and spark carries through to legislative,(00:04:02):important legislative races here in 2026.(00:04:06):Laura, you did that deep dive.(00:04:08):We already talked about it.(00:04:09):You know,(00:04:09):the way you rung in 2026 by living it up and writing out an extensive piece on that(00:04:15):special election in the Des Moines Metro for the late Senator Claire Celci's seat.(00:04:21):What did you see in there to piggyback off what Cathy said?(00:04:26):where there was there something in there that you believe could give democrats some(00:04:31):hope and i'm i have kind of a two-parter for you because i also want to tease(00:04:34):something you wrote several months back when you were looking at particularly(00:04:39):statewide the big big hole that democrats find themselves in when it comes to(00:04:45):registered voters and that was sort of your caution to some of the activists about(00:04:50):Hey, let's chill a little bit.(00:04:52):You can be excited about 2026, but this is a big mountain to climb.(00:04:56):How do you maybe connect those two things?(00:04:59):Well,(00:04:59):I think Cathy's right that it can be hard to see a special election as predictive(00:05:04):of the next general election.(00:05:05):But I do think that this election that just happened in the western suburbs of Des(00:05:09):Moines is quite important because a lot of battleground legislative races will be(00:05:14):in the Polk County suburbs.(00:05:16):And we saw when Cindy Axne was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2020,(00:05:22):strong turnout in the suburbs of Polk County was very important for her.(00:05:26):And Democrats ran a really good ground game, and they're very fired up.(00:05:30):And this trend that we've seen of suburbs becoming more Democratic,(00:05:35):I mean,(00:05:35):there's no sign of it slowing down right now.(00:05:37):So I do think that that's important,(00:05:39):and those Polk County suburbs are gonna be critical for a lot of races,(00:05:43):including even the statewide races,(00:05:45):because statewide candidates for Democrats are gonna need to get every last vote(00:05:50):they can out of precincts like these Democratic ones in Polk County.(00:05:54):But this voter registration hole that you brought up, I first wrote about this in June.(00:05:58):The situation is basically no better for Democrats now.(00:06:02):So at that time,(00:06:03):I was thinking,(00:06:04):OK,(00:06:04):Democrats have about a year and a half to start chipping away at this massive voter(00:06:08):registration lead that Republicans have and really minimal changes.(00:06:13):And so if you compare it to the 2018 midterm, when Democrats had a pretty good election and(00:06:19):Across Iowa, Fred Hubble only lost the governor's race by about three points.(00:06:23):But at that time, the party registrations were closer to equal.(00:06:27):I mean, the Republicans had a very slight advantage.(00:06:30):Now it's almost a 200,000 advantage.(00:06:34):And that's not to say that everybody votes according to their voter registration,(00:06:37):but it's just hard if you start out(00:06:40):that much in the hole,(00:06:41):even with high turnout among Democrats,(00:06:44):it's just hard to overcome that natural Republican advantage.(00:06:47):So I still see Republicans as favored in all of the statewide races next year.(00:06:51):I would say one thing, Dave, and that is(00:06:55):You know,(00:06:55):we just touched on the fact that there are a lot of really,(00:06:59):really competitive primary races coming up in June.(00:07:03):And that,(00:07:03):to me,(00:07:04):is an opportunity both for Republicans and Democrats,(00:07:09):but to build up their party registration,(00:07:11):because getting people to vote in primaries,(00:07:14):obviously,(00:07:15):you have to declare a party here in Iowa.(00:07:17):We have closed primaries and getting people to declare a party for those primary(00:07:21):elections and the fact that they're they're competitive and interesting.(00:07:25):Could help some of that settle out,(00:07:28):or at least we'll know after those June primaries or maybe leading up to the June(00:07:33):primaries,(00:07:34):how successful Democrats are likely to be in rectifying that gulf in party(00:07:40):registrations.(00:07:41):Kathie, earlier in your career, you primarily focused on Eastern Iowa.(00:07:45):Now,(00:07:45):of course,(00:07:46):for years,(00:07:46):you've really focused,(00:07:47):even at the Register,(00:07:48):you were pretty statewide in the way you viewed a lot of things.(00:07:51):Now you especially are, really, you're regionally now.(00:07:54):I'm curious what you make about the reddening of Iowa politically.(00:07:59):What do you think's been behind all that?(00:08:02):Yeah,(00:08:02):I mean,(00:0

This will be our last episode before our Summer hiatus. We are hoping to be back with new episodes in the Fall, but we do need more financial support to defray the costs of production. If you are able, please consider a donation or paid subscription. We really enjoy doing the show, and believe that many of you find it valuable.On to the show! Christina Bohannon has officially declared her candidacy for the 1st congressional district in southeast Iowa. Will the third time be the charm? It certainly was for Mariannette Miller-Meeks. That leads in to a discussion of Joni Ernst, Randy Feenstra, and MMM trying to tie their wagon to the MAGA/Trump Republicans but they also have a fairly tepid past with Trump; Laura Belin wrote a deep dive at Bleeding Heartland concerning Democrats’ statewide chances in the 2026 cycle, and we discuss the apparent uphill battle for the dems. We also discuss how the trends in Iowa mirror what’s been going on in other states since about 2014; Our central Iowa viewers will be familiar with our last topic. High nitrate levels in Des Moines and Raccoon rivers prompted Central Iowa Water Works' first-ever lawn watering ban. Kathie and her team at Iowa Capital Dispatch have been all over this story so she gives us the details on how nitrates in water can impact our health. We appreciate you guys, and hope to see you again soon. Have a nice summer and stay cool this weekend.AI generated transcript: Dave Price (00:00:01):Hi,Dave Price (00:00:01):everyone,Dave Price (00:00:01):and welcome back to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast,Dave Price (00:00:04):a production of the Iowa Writer's Collaborative.Dave Price (00:00:07):I'm Dave Price,Dave Price (00:00:07):joined,Dave Price (00:00:09):as always,Dave Price (00:00:09):almost always,Dave Price (00:00:11):Kathie Obradovich and Laura Belin,Dave Price (00:00:13):and happy Friday to you both as we talk on a Friday afternoon.Dave Price (00:00:16):It is 150,000 degrees outside, and it'll be that way all weekend long.Kathie Obradovich (00:00:24):They say it's not the heat, it's the humidity, right?Dave Price (00:00:27):uh apparently so man we had the des moines area we had a pretty good storm earlyDave Price (00:00:32):this morning my poor doggie got all freaked out as she does in the storms and cameDave Price (00:00:36):up to the bed and that's when i knew things were about to get ugly outsideDave Price (00:00:44):All right, let's talk about a few things.Dave Price (00:00:46):I think maybe possibly on here somewhere several weeks back,Dave Price (00:00:52):we may have said Christina Bohannon's name.Dave Price (00:00:56):It has been a long kept secret that not so good secret,Dave Price (00:01:01):I suppose,Dave Price (00:01:02):that she was going to run again in Iowa's first congressional district.Dave Price (00:01:07):As she told me when we were talking earlier this week,Dave Price (00:01:09):she claims that third time will be a charm here.Dave Price (00:01:13):um it is an interesting way to I saw the National Republican campaign uh committeeDave Price (00:01:19):had uh said something about Iowans have already rejected her or something likeDave Price (00:01:23):which is true that's that's true she lost both times but it might not be the rightDave Price (00:01:27):way to come after her when Marianne Miller Meeks lost three times before she won aDave Price (00:01:32):fourth time so this is like the race of persistence if these two become ourDave Price (00:01:36):nominees rightKathie Obradovich (00:01:39):Yeah, yes, absolutely.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:40):I mean, so Christina Bohannon has come very, very close to knocking off Marianette Miller Meeks.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:51):We had the last...Kathie Obradovich (00:01:55):election i think the difference ended up being something like 800 votes 599 i thinkKathie Obradovich (00:02:02):right right yeah 799 799 okay yeah so that you know percentage wise is is prettyKathie Obradovich (00:02:08):small um the legislature you say it sort of prompted the legislature to actuallyKathie Obradovich (00:02:13):come back and change the recount rules um because that that um race did go to aKathie Obradovich (00:02:20):recountKathie Obradovich (00:02:21):um and you know obviously did not change the results um but you know you look at itKathie Obradovich (00:02:27):you know if you look at the fact that that was a presidential year um that wasKathie Obradovich (00:02:32):frankly punishing for democrats and i know we're going to get into that a littleKathie Obradovich (00:02:37):bit later with laura but um but you know the fact that she could come so close in aKathie Obradovich (00:02:42):presidential year and now the the midtermsKathie Obradovich (00:02:46):which, you know, typically would be better for the party not in power.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:49):So,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:49):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:51):I don't,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:53):I'm not necessarily going to discount her chances as certainly being better thanKathie Obradovich (00:02:59):they were two years ago.Kathie Obradovich (00:03:01):But I also didn't hear a lot from her in her announcement about what she might beKathie Obradovich (00:03:08):planning to do differently.Kathie Obradovich (00:03:10):So I would be interested in hearing more about that.Laura Belin (00:03:13):I did.Laura Belin (00:03:13):I asked her a little bit about that.Laura Belin (00:03:15):She thinks that this whatever you want to call it,Laura Belin (00:03:18):I think she was calling it the big,Laura Belin (00:03:19):bad bill,Laura Belin (00:03:19):the big,Laura Belin (00:03:20):beautiful bill.Laura Belin (00:03:21):And that is going to be a central issue for her in the midterm elections.Laura Belin (00:03:25):But I want to put this in context of how badly Marianne Miller Meeks underperformedLaura Belin (00:03:30):in that district.Laura Belin (00:03:31):That's a district that Donald Trump carried by about eight and a half points thatLaura Belin (00:03:36):Miller Meeks won by 0.2%.Laura Belin (00:03:38):So she was one of the absolute worst performing Republican incumbents in theLaura Belin (00:03:43):country relative to how Donald Trump did in the district.Laura Belin (00:03:47):And I think that's why Democrats are targeting that first district again,Laura Belin (00:03:51):because even though there has been so much slippage in Democratic performance,Laura Belin (00:03:55):I mean,Laura Belin (00:03:55):you just have to say that Christina Bohannon is in this for a real chance.Dave Price (00:04:00):And we're assuming Marianne Miller-Meeks is going to run again.Dave Price (00:04:03):I do not believe she has said that yet.Dave Price (00:04:06):We do know that if she does run,Dave Price (00:04:08):she has a Republican challenger,Dave Price (00:04:09):David Pouch,Dave Price (00:04:11):who made a race of it last time around,Dave Price (00:04:13):right?Dave Price (00:04:13):I think it was 55-45.Laura Belin (00:04:16):It was 56-44.Laura Belin (00:04:17):And he raised almost no money, less than $40,000.Laura Belin (00:04:20):And she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars.Laura Belin (00:04:22):And then outside groups were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.Laura Belin (00:04:26):I think the American Action Network is already, that's a conservative...Laura Belin (00:04:29):group.Laura Belin (00:04:30):I think they're already up with some ads for her.Laura Belin (00:04:32):I don't know if they're digital or broadcast, but she's going to need a lot of help.Laura Belin (00:04:36):She could lose the primary.Laura Belin (00:04:37):That's realistic.Dave Price (00:04:39):I'm going to make a very TV-like generic blank statement,Dave Price (00:04:44):blanket statement,Dave Price (00:04:44):as we TV people do when we try to make a point in 10 seconds.Dave Price (00:04:48):But do you all agree with me on this,Dave Price (00:04:51):that Marionette Miller-Meeks,Dave Price (00:04:54):to me,Dave Price (00:04:55):has something in common kind of with Joni Ernst and Randy Feenstra?Dave Price (00:04:59):they're not like a super perfect mega match necessarily and they have to kind ofDave Price (00:05:08):work for it right like randy feenstra who is running for governor but not quiteDave Price (00:05:14):running for governor and it's all this semantics thing he's got this exploratoryDave Price (00:05:18):committee but man his stuff is so trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trumpDave Price (00:05:24):and i'm going to support trump and all of this stuff and as we well know before theDave Price (00:05:28):last caucus cycle he was planning on endorsing somebody that somebody wasDave Price (00:05:36):supposedly not donald trump then he changed and he didn't endorse so that whateverDave Price (00:05:42):thatDave Price (00:05:44):environment thing was happened and marionette miller meeks had we just talked aboutDave Price (00:05:49):she had to deal with her republican primary joanie ernst also did not endorse trumpDave Price (00:05:54):and seemed more aligned with nikki haley although she never never endorsed her andDave Price (00:05:58):now she's trying to figure out with elon and hegseth and dc and all this stuff andDave Price (00:06:04):is she running not running and whatever it just feels like the three of them likeDave Price (00:06:09):there's something not quite hand in glove what do you thinkKathie Obradovich (00:06:14):I totally agree.Kathie Obradovich (00:06:15):And we've seen that more,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:18):I think,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:19):with Joni Ernst recently,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:21):especially with the qualms that she showed early on with Hegseth and how very vocalKathie Obradovich (00:06:31):the MAGA right was in threatening her into essentially saying she was going to voteKathie Obradovich (00:06:37):for him and then voting for him.Kathie Obradovich (00:06:41):And Randy Feinster,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:42):I mean,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:43):come on,Kathie Obradovich (0

We start off with Gov. Reynolds’ veto of the eminent domain bill. We discuss the reasons for the veto, including what the governor said, and what she doesn’t want to say. Also, what kind of political ramifications might this end up unleashing between the governor and the republicans who helped pass the bill? This may also hamper the governor’s agenda, especially property tax relief, going into the next session; Then, as promised, we discuss the 2026 governors race for the state. We have one new democrat and one new republican in the race, Julie Stauch and Eddie Andrews, respectively. We dive in to each of their chances running against better known candidates. We wrap up with what we’re working on, including Laura’s deep dive at Bleeding Heartland on the democrats’ chances in statewide races overall in 2026. Happy Father’s Day, and thanks for watching/listening/reading!AI Generated Transcript:Dave Price (00:00:02):Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast.Dave Price (00:00:06):I am Dave Price, joined by Kathie Obradovich and Laura Belin.Dave Price (00:00:10):We need to start this week.Dave Price (00:00:12):By the way,Dave Price (00:00:13):today is Friday the 13th,Dave Price (00:00:14):and if I can do a personal point of privilege here,Dave Price (00:00:18):I was engaged on Friday the 13th.Kathie Obradovich (00:00:20):Hey, turned out to be a lucky day for you.Dave Price (00:00:23):Yeah, I need to have my wife on here and see if she would say that it was lucky for her.Dave Price (00:00:28):We'll see.Dave Price (00:00:28):I hope she still feels that way.Laura Belin (00:00:30):In Russia, it's Monday the 13th that's unlucky, not Friday the 13th.Dave Price (00:00:34):Okay.Dave Price (00:00:37):Hey, let's begin with the veto heard around the world, or at least within our borders.Dave Price (00:00:43):I don't know that this would come as a surprise.Dave Price (00:00:46):Perhaps there are some out there who thought that somehow...Dave Price (00:00:49):Governor Kim Reynolds was going to veto this complicated bill that dealt withDave Price (00:00:55):eminent domain when it came to the carbon sequestration pipeline.Dave Price (00:00:59):I feel like though that, I mean, the whole process was confusing, right?Dave Price (00:01:03):Because some people probably looked at that as it was this anti-pipeline bill.Dave Price (00:01:07):It was gonna save all the landowners.Dave Price (00:01:09):It was far more complex than that.Dave Price (00:01:12):Which one of you wants to begin by saying that you were shocked with the veto?Dave Price (00:01:17):Perhaps Kathy's cat.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:18):No, yeah, Samo's joining us today.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:22):We'll see if he weighs in on any of these.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:25):He's not surprised by much.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:27):And, you know, I felt like she could have gone either way.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:33):So I can't say I'm truly surprised by the veto.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:35):But the fact that she's leaving office, to me, potentially neutralized the special interest ofKathie Obradovich (00:01:45):part of this where one of her biggest donors,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:49):Bruce Rastetter,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:51):is owning Summit Carbon Solutions,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:55):and obviously their relationship goes back a long way.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:03):But that loyalty sometimes doesn't survive when somebody is getting ready to leaveKathie Obradovich (00:02:09):office and not running again.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:10):In this case, I think it did.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:12):Also,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:14):I mean,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:14):I think that there were some legitimate issues in the drafting of the bill thatKathie Obradovich (00:02:21):gave her,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:22):I think,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:24):an excuse to say what she said in her veto message,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:27):which is that she is concerned about landowner rights,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:30):but that she felt like this legislation would have...Kathie Obradovich (00:02:34):a variety of unintended consequences,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:36):including to an ethanol producer whose pipeline project had actually signed up allKathie Obradovich (00:02:44):of its easements without having to resort to eminent domain.Dave Price (00:02:49):And the horse is out of the barn on this, right?Dave Price (00:02:51):I mean,Dave Price (00:02:51):this would have been,Dave Price (00:02:52):perhaps this is less complicated had Summit not already received permission forDave Price (00:02:59):eminent domain,Dave Price (00:03:00):right?Laura Belin (00:03:02):Well, they did, butLaura Belin (00:03:03):On the other hand,Laura Belin (00:03:04):they can't start building the pipeline until the route is approved in both NorthLaura Belin (00:03:08):Dakota and South Dakota,Laura Belin (00:03:09):and they're having real trouble in South Dakota.Laura Belin (00:03:11):So I think, I mean, I was very confident all along she would veto the bill.Laura Belin (00:03:16):I was only surprised that some of the key House Republicans like Stephen Holt wentLaura Belin (00:03:21):out publicly and said that he felt he was confident that the governor would sign.Laura Belin (00:03:25):I thought that was maybe a little bit of wishful thinking to throw out there.Laura Belin (00:03:29):But not only was Bruce Rostetter a big donor to her campaigns, butLaura Belin (00:03:34):Her mentor,Laura Belin (00:03:34):Terry Branstad,Laura Belin (00:03:35):to whom she owes pretty much her entire political career,Laura Belin (00:03:39):is a senior policy advisor or whatever his title is.Laura Belin (00:03:44):He has some kind of a title position within Summit Carbon Solutions.Laura Belin (00:03:47):So I just never saw any real possibility that she would veto the bill.Laura Belin (00:03:52):I think that it was complicated.Laura Belin (00:03:54):There were a couple of different bills that the House sent over to the Senate.Laura Belin (00:03:58):This was the one that was really complex that included a lot of differentLaura Belin (00:04:02):provisions related to pipelines and the Iowa Utilities Commission.Laura Belin (00:04:06):And then there was a second bill that was very short that was similar to what SouthLaura Belin (00:04:10):Dakota enacted that just would have said,Laura Belin (00:04:13):you can't use eminent domain for a hazardous liquid pipeline that's carbon dioxide,Laura Belin (00:04:19):basically just a one or two paragraph bill.Laura Belin (00:04:22):And that was the one thatLaura Belin (00:04:23):that the Senate Republicans made sure not to vote out of committee or rather theLaura Belin (00:04:27):Mike Boussolo,Laura Belin (00:04:28):the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee.Laura Belin (00:04:29):He kept that one bottled up in committee and then move forward on this moreLaura Belin (00:04:33):complicated one that they thought they were going to be able to amend to theirLaura Belin (00:04:37):liking.Laura Belin (00:04:38):And they ended up stuck with this House bill that the governor raised a number ofLaura Belin (00:04:42):questions about it.Laura Belin (00:04:43):It was very predictable.Laura Belin (00:04:44):that she's not going to come out and say, oh, I would never go against my big campaign donor.Laura Belin (00:04:50):So she could point to other things and say,Laura Belin (00:04:53):this could affect different pipeline projects,Laura Belin (00:04:55):this could affect eminent domain.Laura Belin (00:04:57):And I thought,Laura Belin (00:04:58):as a little bit of window dressing there,Laura Belin (00:04:59):I thought it was interesting that she said in her veto message that she'sLaura Belin (00:05:03):instructing the Iowa Utilities Commission to enact some of the reforms that theLaura Belin (00:05:07):bill would have called for,Laura Belin (00:05:08):like saying that all of the commissioners have to be present,Laura Belin (00:05:12):at evidentiary hearings and that at least one of them has to be present for anLaura Belin (00:05:16):informational meeting,Laura Belin (00:05:17):which is something that a lot of the landowners were upset about.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:20):The Utilities Commission has already sent out an order basically announcing thatKathie Obradovich (00:05:26):they're enacting that and thanking the governor for her timely suggestion.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:31):But here's the thing.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:35):The governor was sitting up there in her office the entire legislative sessionKathie Obradovich (00:05:41):And, you know, including the past four years when they've been debating this bill.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:47):I just one thing I don't understand is why she didn't make her opinion known soonerKathie Obradovich (00:05:54):than a veto message.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:56):I mean, I think.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:58):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:05:58):given the serious fissures in the Republican caucus that this caused and the badKathie Obradovich (00:06:06):feelings and the kind of ugly debates and things that have been said that can't beKathie Obradovich (00:06:11):unsaid.Kathie Obradovich (00:06:13):I mean, it seems like she could have headed off some of this by just saying, look,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:19):You know,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:20):this pipeline is important to Iowa,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:21):and I'm not going to clip it,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:24):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:25):this far along into the process.Kathie Obradovich (00:06:27):And she chose not to do that.Kathie Obradovich (00:06:29):And so I do understand,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:31):and not to step on Dave's next question,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:35):but the really angry response that we're getting from the Republicans who were,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:42):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:42):in favor of this bill.Dave Price (00:06:45):I wonder, though, is there, I totally understand what you're

The governor still hasn’t made a decision whether to sign the eminent domain bill, so not much to discuss concerning the state government this week. We focused mainly on the recent candidate announcement for US Senate on this week’s show (editor’s note Dave mentions at the top we’ll be discussing the governor’s race announcements as well but we spent too much time on the senate and we wanted to get Kathie’s Minnesota story in. We’ll go in depth on the governor’s race next week). The biggest political news in the state started last Friday with Sen. Joni Ernst’s “We all are going to die” response to a constituent’s statement during a town hall in Parkersburg. The senator also announced the hiring of a campaign manager for her 2026 reelection bid. We dive in to what it all means; Former Republican State Senator Jim Carlin announced early Friday that he will seek the US Senate nomination for his party, and it appears he’ll try attacking Ernst from the right in the primary; Ernst’s controversy encouraged Democratic State Rep. J.D. Scholten to enter the US Senate race earlier than he may have planned. We discuss his credentials and early campaign; Kathie is in Minnesota with some of her States Newsroom colleagues and they had Governor Tim Walz as a guest Thursday so she shares a report from that event. Hope you have an enjoyable weekend, we’ll see you next week!AI generated transcript (I wish I could teach it to spell Kathie’s name right every time)(00:00:01):Hi,(00:00:01):everyone,(00:00:01):and welcome back to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast,(00:00:05):a production of the Iowa Writers Collaborative.(00:00:07):I am Dave Price.(00:00:08):I write Dave Price's perspective.(00:00:10):Joined, as always, this week, Kathie Obradovich and Laura Belin.(00:00:15):Hello, ladies.(00:00:17):Hello.(00:00:17):Good to be here.(00:00:19):Kathie, are we allowed to say you're on the road?(00:00:21):Yeah, if you notice the background, it's a hotel room in Minneapolis.(00:00:25):So I'm hitting the road as soon as we're done here to drive back to Iowa.(00:00:30):But I've been with all of my fellow editors from the State's Newsroom Network this week.(00:00:36):So it's been an interesting week.(00:00:42):And you'll have a nugget to share about...(00:00:45):A VIP speaker.(00:00:47):Yeah, we have a special guest.(00:00:49):So I'll be happy to tell you.(00:00:52):I thought this week.(00:00:54):Well,(00:00:55):we have had some bill signings and such this week by the governor,(00:00:59):still not the eminent domain one.(00:01:01):We'll see when that thing happens.(00:01:03):But since we had so many announcements this week,(00:01:05):I thought maybe we should catch up a little bit on where things stand.(00:01:10):And we are recording this on Friday morning and just a couple hours before we all gathered here.(00:01:18):We got another new candidate.(00:01:21):So we'll work Jim Carlin into our conversation as well.(00:01:24):But we'll primarily focus on the US Senate race and the governor race.(00:01:29):And all of these are interesting to me in their own unique ways.(00:01:33):But since the Jim Carlin thing is the new one, maybe let's start with the newest one.(00:01:39):Let's start with the US Senate race.(00:01:42):I am curious, first of all, ladies,(00:01:47):What is going on with Joni Ernst?(00:01:49):And let me set it up this way.(00:01:51):Obviously,(00:01:52):we're going to have to backtrack and look at what she said last Friday,(00:01:56):follow that up with what she said the day after,(00:01:59):and then even into this week as well.(00:02:01):And we will try to have this discussion before we all die.(00:02:06):And we're going to talk about whether that comment had staying power here too.(00:02:10):Before we get on all of that goodness, I am curious what you're reporting...(00:02:17):and your sources have been telling you for a while.(00:02:20):I have a couple of pretty usually reliable Republican sources who led me to believe(00:02:28):that Joni Ernst was not going to run for re-election.(00:02:32):And as Laura helped remind me, Senator Ernst(00:02:39):when she was in a debate in 2014,(00:02:42):when she was in that crowded Republican primary debate,(00:02:45):when she ran for the first time,(00:02:47):during a debate on Iowa PBS,(00:02:50):she followed Matt Whitaker,(00:02:51):who was right before her,(00:02:52):and she said that 12 years would be what she wanted to spend in the Senate.(00:02:57):In other words, two terms.(00:02:59):It appears there hasn't been a big hoopla announcement,(00:03:04):a rally,(00:03:06):whatever,(00:03:06):a tweet,(00:03:08):whatever,(00:03:08):however you wanna do it,(00:03:10):to say that she is formally running for reelection,(00:03:12):but she did announce,(00:03:13):the campaign did announce that they have a campaign manager.(00:03:17):So you would assume this would mean that she's running for reelection.(00:03:22):And I'm trying to figure out what this all means because it was sounding like she(00:03:28):wasn't going to.(00:03:29):I was led to believe she's going to do something else.(00:03:33):And that was why the Roast and Ride was delayed.(00:03:36):We weren't hearing any news on that.(00:03:38):Now,(00:03:39):within the last couple of weeks,(00:03:40):they've announced it's going to be in October,(00:03:41):which is later than normal.(00:03:44):Two years ago,(00:03:44):I remember specifically it was on June 6th because that was my last day at my(00:03:48):former TV employer.(00:03:50):And it was also a year away from the...(00:03:52):about a year away from the primary so that date kind of sticks in my head so I knew(00:03:55):that it was earlier before anyway sorry there's a super long wind up here but I(00:04:01):think that probably gives you a sense into my confusion in my head because I was(00:04:05):hearing some pretty prominent voices who did not believe she was going to run again(00:04:09):and it looks like at least at this point she's running again(00:04:12):Any thoughts?(00:04:14):Yeah, I would say it looks that way.(00:04:15):I mean, you announced the hiring of a campaign manager.(00:04:19):You don't do that unless you're planning to run.(00:04:23):At my guess,(00:04:24):and I can only speculate about this,(00:04:26):but my guess is that Joni took a while to think about whether she was going to run.(00:04:34):And that, you know, she is...(00:04:39):you know,(00:04:39):had been,(00:04:40):you know,(00:04:40):kind of on the on the outs with the Trump administration as she publicly kind of(00:04:48):wavered on the Pete Hegseth nomination for secretary of defense.(00:04:53):I think she probably is surprised as anyone that there wasn't a mega Republican who(00:05:02):has popped up to run against her at this point.(00:05:05):And so and I think,(00:05:09):frankly,(00:05:10):that as we'll talk about her very odd non apology to her comment about we're all(00:05:18):going to die.(00:05:19):was probably for an audience of one,(00:05:23):trying to persuade Donald Trump not to endorse somebody against her.(00:05:27):So I think after that, the non-apology, I thought, well, she must be running.(00:05:35):But yeah, I think for whatever reason, she took a while to think about whether she was going to(00:05:43):Well,(00:05:44):last year she told Doug Burns and a few other reporters that she was likely going(00:05:49):to run for a third time.(00:05:51):Right.(00:05:51):That was before Trump won the election.(00:05:54):So then,(00:05:55):I mean,(00:05:55):I did hear speculation this year that maybe she was holding out to try to get a(00:05:58):Trump administration job and maybe the delay in announcing the Roaston ride,(00:06:03):which,(00:06:04):as you said,(00:06:04):Dave,(00:06:05):normally happens in June.(00:06:06):This year is happening in October.(00:06:08):Maybe when SignalGate blew up, you know, there were questions about maybe Trump might(00:06:13):ditch Pete Hegseth, and who knows, maybe she wanted to keep the door open.(00:06:17):I would add, though, I think she's going to run.(00:06:19):I've always felt that she's going to run,(00:06:21):but Kim Reynolds had already hired a campaign manager,(00:06:25):and I think even a finance director,(00:06:27):and she then suddenly decided not to run.(00:06:30):So I don't, who knows, but I expect that Senator Ernst will seek a third term.(00:06:36):I agree.(00:06:36):To me, when I saw that non-apology video, I thought, oh yeah, she wants to make sure that(00:06:42):she's showing Trump that you never apologize and you never show weakness.(00:06:45):Although I know people who interpreted it the other way,(00:06:48):like the fact that she didn't try to clean up that mess that suggested to them that(00:06:53):maybe she's looking for another option and that maybe she doesn't care because when(00:06:58):you're in the middle of a national firestorm like that,(00:07:01):normally you would try to diffuse it instead of then pushing the story further.(00:07:08):I appreciate what you said there because(00:07:12):I'm with you on,(00:07:13):after what we just watched with Governor Reynolds,(00:07:17):just because you say,(00:07:18):and I have no firsthand knowledge,(00:07:20):I haven't sat down with Senator Ernst in a long time,(00:07:23):so we haven't had an in-depth talk about this.(00:07:25):So this is just pure speculation,(00:07:28):but since we just went through this thing with Governor Reynolds,(00:07:32):just because they're running at one point doesn't mean that they will be later.(00:07:37):Something can clearly change.(00:07:38):Maybe Senator Ernst finds something else she wants to do more or what have you or(00:07:42):doesn't like the way things are going or whatever.(00:07:45):I have no idea, so it's just conjecture, but I think that's a worthy point to emphasize that(00:07:52):She's whatever she's doing right now may not be doing may not be what she's doing later.(00:07:57):OK, can we back up to those comments?(00:08:00):Because I'm trying to remember when we r

We start the show this week with good news for the Perry community as they continue to rebound from the Tyson plant closure. JBS USA has announced a new pork processing facility in the town, which could bring over 500 jobs; Governor Reynolds is still signing bills from the 2025 legislative session. One of those is designed to address the healthcare worker shortage in the state. We discuss what the bill does and how successful it may be; The governor also signed the paid family leave bill that effect public workers in the state. All 3 of our reporters were at least a bit surprised that one got past the finish line this session; Senator Joni Ernst has announced her annual Roast and Ride date. It’ll be taking place in October, and we discuss the announcement and try to read the tea leaves; Thanks for listen/watching/reading. Remember to share with friends and family, and if you’re able please consider becoming a monthly or yearly paid subscriber.AI generated transcript below:Dave (00:00:01):Hi everyone and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot Podcast.Dave (00:00:04):I am Dave Price, joined as always by Laura Bellin and Kathie Obradovich.Dave (00:00:09):This podcast is a production of the Iowa Writers Collaborative.Dave (00:00:14):Hopefully you're supporting the work of the independent journalists who are part ofDave (00:00:18):the Iowa Writers Collaborative.Dave (00:00:21):If you're not, like do it right now.Dave (00:00:23):Maybe when the podcast is done.Dave (00:00:25):But if you can support what we're doing here and growing and growing and buildingDave (00:00:29):and spreading this information,Dave (00:00:31):that would be much appreciated.Dave (00:00:33):Whether you can justDave (00:00:35):Like and subscribe, send to others.Dave (00:00:38):Maybe you're able to become a paid subscriber as well.Dave (00:00:41):That helps as well.Dave (00:00:42):Whatever you can do to help this entity grow as we go from border to border in theDave (00:00:47):state of Iowa.Dave (00:00:48):So for the last several months,Dave (00:00:49):we have focused a lot on what the Iowa legislature has done,Dave (00:00:53):this legislative session.Dave (00:00:55):The session's done, but now we're starting to see some of these things happen.Dave (00:00:59):Get signed into law.Dave (00:01:01):So we are going to look at some of that this week.Dave (00:01:04):But we had and we're going to start with a little bit of business news because overDave (00:01:07):the past what year,Dave (00:01:09):year and a half,Dave (00:01:10):it seems like we've had a lot of headlines about this place is closing.Dave (00:01:14):They're laying off several hundred here, laying off here, laying off, laying off.Dave (00:01:18):Well,Dave (00:01:18):in Perry,Dave (00:01:20):where they are dealing with a bunch of layoffs,Dave (00:01:23):there's about 1,300,Dave (00:01:24):if memory serves,Dave (00:01:25):when Tyson Foods shut down the pork processing plant in Perry.Dave (00:01:30):And on this week, on Thursday, JBS USA confirmed that it is...Dave (00:01:39):working to build a $135 million pork sausage plant,Dave (00:01:45):not at the same physical location where Tyson was.Dave (00:01:48):They're going to build their own thing,Dave (00:01:49):providing they get all the necessary approvals from the city.Dave (00:01:53):But you'd have to think that's going to happen, right?Dave (00:01:55):You probably wouldn't make this big announcement if you don't think the cityDave (00:01:57):council is going to go along with this.Dave (00:02:00):But maybe up to 700, 750 jobs or so.Dave (00:02:02):It's kind of two shifts of 250 workers plus another...Dave (00:02:08):250 construction jobs.Dave (00:02:10):Either way,Dave (00:02:10):it's a little bit more than half of the workers that the community lost when TysonDave (00:02:16):shut down.Dave (00:02:18):Kathie,Dave (00:02:18):as always,Dave (00:02:19):the Iowa Capitol Dispatch was all over this,Dave (00:02:21):and you had a good in-depth story about this,Dave (00:02:24):but kind of big picture,Dave (00:02:25):we've seen so many blows to the agricultural industry,Dave (00:02:29):especially in our state,Dave (00:02:31):over the last year,Dave (00:02:32):year and a half.Dave (00:02:33):So this could definitely be a positive one for that community.Kathie (00:02:36):Yeah,Kathie (00:02:37):not only for the people who physically would be working in the plant,Kathie (00:02:41):but the pork producers who,Kathie (00:02:44):after Tyson shut down,Kathie (00:02:45):had to find some other place to take their pigs to the market.Kathie (00:02:50):And, you know, that comes at additional cost.Kathie (00:02:53):You have to drive them along longer distance.Kathie (00:02:56):A lot of those packing plants don't necessarily have openings for more animals.Kathie (00:03:01):So you might end up feeding these pigs longer than you intended.Kathie (00:03:07):There was just a big financial hit all the way around.Kathie (00:03:11):The cost of the community has been significant as well.Kathie (00:03:15):Kids coming out of school, et cetera.Kathie (00:03:19):I think though,Kathie (00:03:20):one of the things I'm interested in seeing is how many of those former TysonKathie (00:03:24):workersKathie (00:03:25):are still hanging around the community and haven't moved,Kathie (00:03:29):you know,Kathie (00:03:30):to other plants,Kathie (00:03:31):either in other cities or out of state.Kathie (00:03:35):I assume JBS must think they are going to have a workforce somewhere in Perry,Kathie (00:03:40):and perhaps they can draw some of those people back to the community.Kathie (00:03:44):And I think it was,Dave (00:03:45):I think it was your reporting that showed it's like a hundred and something kidsDave (00:03:49):who have left the public school district,Dave (00:03:51):right?Dave (00:03:52):Since Tyson shut down.Kathie (00:03:55):I think that it was significant.Kathie (00:03:59):I mean,Kathie (00:03:59):it was a significant number of kids,Kathie (00:04:01):maybe more than I would have expected,Kathie (00:04:05):considering that a lot of people who worked at the plant weren't necessarily livingKathie (00:04:10):in Perry proper.Kathie (00:04:11):Some of them were driving in from nearby communities, et cetera.Kathie (00:04:17):And now with this sort of culture of fear that we have,Kathie (00:04:23):with the Hispanic community in particular and immigrants in general, I think it will be harder.Kathie (00:04:32):It will be harder to hire workers in mass for a business like this.Laura (00:04:40):I was just going to say,Laura (00:04:41):I remember when the Tyson announced they were shutting down that plant,Laura (00:04:45):hundreds,Laura (00:04:45):I can't remember the exact number,Laura (00:04:47):but certainly hundreds of the people who worked there didn't live right in Perry.Laura (00:04:50):They were coming in either from the Des Moines metro or from other smaller towns.Laura (00:04:55):And so many of those people may have already found other employment,Laura (00:04:59):but certainly it's always a good thing for a community when there's a hugeLaura (00:05:03):construction project that's gonna create hundreds of permanent jobs.Dave (00:05:07):And we should point out that I think they're thinking this would still be almost aDave (00:05:12):calendar year before this would open.Dave (00:05:15):So while this could be a significant number of jobs for Perry, it's still down the line here.Dave (00:05:22):Now, maybe that's a good thing.Dave (00:05:23):I mean, maybe that gives people a chance to apply and potentially move back to town.Dave (00:05:28):But you have to wonder what these folks have been doing.Dave (00:05:31):If they lost their job at Tyson, that could be almost a two-yearDave (00:05:37):absence from the workforce,Dave (00:05:39):that's a heck of a long time to go without a job if people are still stickingDave (00:05:42):around.Laura (00:05:43):And Iowa used to have an extra 13 weeks of unemployment payments if you wereLaura (00:05:48):working for a facility where the whole facility shut down.Laura (00:05:51):But that was ended.Laura (00:05:53):And also the regular unemployment benefits,Laura (00:05:55):which used to be available for up to 26 weeks,Laura (00:05:59):are now available only for up to 16 weeks.Laura (00:06:01):So, I mean, I would imagine that many people have moved on.Laura (00:06:04):I just wanted to add one quick thing.Laura (00:06:06):Because you had mentioned the declining enrollment in the schools.Laura (00:06:09):And just for listeners to understand that when a school district loses students,Laura (00:06:14):that's real money that they're losing because the state is most of the stateLaura (00:06:18):funding is going per pupil.Laura (00:06:20):And so maybe the state increased per pupil funding by 2% for the coming year.Laura (00:06:25):But if your school district has declining enrollment, you're going to be actually getting 50%.Laura (00:06:30):fewer dollars than you did last year, even if the amount per pupil bumped up a little bit.Laura (00:06:35):So it's very significant for a school district the size of Perry to be losingLaura (00:06:40):dozens of students or scores of students.Kathie (00:06:43):Yeah,Kathie (00:06:43):I would be,Kathie (00:06:44):you know,Kathie (00:06:45):I think it would really be wise for the city of Perry to,Kathie (00:06:48):you know,Kathie (00:06:49):hopefully,Kathie (00:06:50):if they've kept track of where some of these folks have gone,Kathie (00:06:54):to encourage them to move back.Kathie (00:06:56):And, you know, it's a nice little community.Kathie (00:06:59):It's a friendly community.Kathie (00:07:01):It's possible that people would really consider that if they had a job.Dave (00:07:05):And you'd have to think they did that.Dave (00:07:06):I think Newton has gone through a lot of these kind of ebbs and flows ever sinceDave (00:07:11):Whirlpool and Maytag pulled out.Dave (00:07:13):And they've had TPI composites and some others kind of in the

Governor Kim Reynolds didn’t get to sign the bill she wanted addressing child care this legislative session so she’s decided to take steps on her own; Speaking of the governor, she was also a guest on Iowa Press this weekend and Kathie peeked at the transcript. She didn’t commit on signing or not signing the eminent domain bill and may be bailing on no state income tax; US District Judge Stephen Locher upheld parts of the state’s ‘don’t say gay/trans’ law that was passed in 2023 while finding others unconstitutional. Laura helps us understand the decision and the reasoning behind it; We discussing Attorney General Brenna Bird’s visit to the US/Mexico border; We cap things off with reaction to Randy Feenstra’s first ad for governor. Anybody want to count the Trump references for us? Thanks to all veterans and those that paid the ultimate price to uphold and defend our freedom this Memorial Day weekend. Get full access to Iowa Down Ballot at iowawriterscollaborative.substack.com/subscribe

The 2025 session is in the books and we’ll focus on the last day (technically two days?). Firstly, the second day after pulling an all nighter is always worse than the first. Dave and Kathie get into the weeds on last minute negotiations and amendments that ended up in the final budget bill that officially passed before adjournment at 6:31am Thursday. The state will be over budget and we discuss how the legislature is closing that deficit. Also the house gets their paraeducator pay raise in the budget, but decided not to play hardball on the governor signing the eminent domain bill. Republican Muscatine Senator Mark Lofgren wrote a scathing email to his fellow state legislators complaining about his own party’s leadership that was leaked to the press. Dave had the scoop and he and Kathie discuss how rare this is. Property tax reform punted to next year at the earliest. Kathie had a great nugget on possible property tax changes in another Midwest state. Dave and Kathie share what surprised them most in the final days of negotiation. Have a nice weekend, and we’ll see you next week!AI generated transcript:Dave Price (00:00:01):Welcome,Dave Price (00:00:01):everybody,Dave Price (00:00:02):to the newest Iowa Down Ballot podcast,Dave Price (00:00:05):a production of the Iowa Riders Collaborative.Dave Price (00:00:08):Here on the podcast for the last four and a half months or so,Dave Price (00:00:13):we've tried to bring kind of a deep dive look at what's going on with the IowaDave Price (00:00:18):legislative session.Dave Price (00:00:19):And guess what, Kathie Obradovich?Dave Price (00:00:22):This week,Dave Price (00:00:22):we can finally say that session is officially complete,Dave Price (00:00:26):minus the bill signing or vetoing or whatever the governor's going to do,Dave Price (00:00:30):right?Kathie Obradovich (00:00:30):It's a beautiful day.Dave Price (00:00:33):Sing it.Dave Price (00:00:35):Laura Belin on assignment, so she will not be joining us this week.Dave Price (00:00:38):I will warn you,Dave Price (00:00:39):Kathie,Dave Price (00:00:41):a legislator who apparently tunes in each week to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast wasDave Price (00:00:49):saying that I am not relaxed enough toDave Price (00:00:55):During these podcasts.Dave Price (00:00:57):So I've brought a beverage.Dave Price (00:01:00):Excellent.Dave Price (00:01:01):Although it would seem appropriate,Dave Price (00:01:04):although,Dave Price (00:01:04):frankly,Dave Price (00:01:04):a caffeinated beverage may be the appropriate drink of choice after this.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:10):I don't know about you, but the second day after getting no sleep is worse than the first day.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:16):I mean, there's only a few times a year when this happens, like election night, you know.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:21):And it seems like the very next day,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:23):not so bad because you're kind of running on caffeine and adrenaline.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:26):And it's the second day where you're just kind of going home.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:30):But I will try to stay awake here.Dave Price (00:01:33):That's exactly what happened on Wednesday into Thursday.Dave Price (00:01:36):So the house got done about 630.Dave Price (00:01:38):It was either 630 or 631 a.m., whatever the official time was.Dave Price (00:01:42):And, you know, then you're wrapping up, you're getting your story put together.Dave Price (00:01:45):And I came home.Dave Price (00:01:47):I...Dave Price (00:01:49):I had breakfast.Dave Price (00:01:51):My son had already taken off for school before I got home.Dave Price (00:01:53):So I totally missed him.Dave Price (00:01:55):I did get to have breakfast with my daughter.Dave Price (00:01:57):Then she heads out for school.Dave Price (00:01:58):And, you know, there's nothing like going to bed for a nice extended nap at 9 a.m., right?Dave Price (00:02:03):Yes.Dave Price (00:02:05):Wake up around lunchtime, eat a little bit, suck down some caffeine.Dave Price (00:02:09):But I totally agree.Dave Price (00:02:10):It's like the day after.Dave Price (00:02:12):it just hits you like you've gone out on a bender, you know?Dave Price (00:02:16):Dehydrated and tired and wondering where your life's gone.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:21):Yeah, you start saying to yourself, I'm too old for this.Dave Price (00:02:24):I said that about 423 times, I think.Dave Price (00:02:25):There have been a few of these...Dave Price (00:02:31):obviously,Dave Price (00:02:32):but what I felt like was so unique with this is that we go in there WednesdayDave Price (00:02:38):morning and there had been kind of this optimism that they were going to wrap upDave Price (00:02:43):Wednesday,Dave Price (00:02:44):right?Dave Price (00:02:44):You know,Dave Price (00:02:44):that it was kind of,Dave Price (00:02:47):it was like that carrot we couldn't quite grab for a while,Dave Price (00:02:50):but it finally felt like they were going to power through.Dave Price (00:02:53):And then it's just like in Wednesday evening, things just kept going not...Dave Price (00:03:00):the way people were telling me they thought it was going to go there were theseDave Price (00:03:04):like extended breaks where the house would be out the senate would be out and andDave Price (00:03:10):it was it you know it's one thing where you're thinking okay they're pow wowingDave Price (00:03:13):over here because they're figuring out what they're going to do right but then youDave Price (00:03:16):start walking around the capitol just to get your legs moving and it's just randomDave Price (00:03:21):people here and there and lobbyists here lobbyists there a legislator here let andDave Price (00:03:26):you're going what the heck is even going on at this pointKathie Obradovich (00:03:29):Yeah.Kathie Obradovich (00:03:30):And,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:31):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:31):the longer that goes on,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:33):the opportunity for something weird to happen at like two in the morning,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:38):because,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:38):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:39):up until the very end,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:40):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:41):that the lobbyists who wanted the pesticide immunity bill,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:46):for example,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:47):I mean,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:47):they were pushing to get that into the standings bill,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:49):I think,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:50):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:50):until the very last minute,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:52):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:03:52):that utilities wanted that right of first refusal provision that was in theKathie Obradovich (00:03:57):governor's energy bill.Kathie Obradovich (00:03:59):And I think probably the reason that the governor's energy bill didn't move forwardKathie Obradovich (00:04:02):was just because of that provision.Kathie Obradovich (00:04:05):You know, people were pushing to get that into legislation up until the very last minute.Kathie Obradovich (00:04:10):And had either one of those amendments gone on to the standings bill,Kathie Obradovich (00:04:16):we'd still be sitting in the Capitol right now.Dave Price (00:04:20):And the standings bill,Dave Price (00:04:21):in case you're not familiar with it,Dave Price (00:04:23):it's kind of the catch-all,Dave Price (00:04:24):the thing at the end.Dave Price (00:04:25):There's all kinds of stuff in there.Dave Price (00:04:27):But it's always the thing that is so hard,Dave Price (00:04:29):I feel like,Dave Price (00:04:30):as a reporter,Dave Price (00:04:31):because you think,Dave Price (00:04:32):okay,Dave Price (00:04:33):this is going to be approximately X billion dollars or whatever the heck's going toDave Price (00:04:37):be in there.Dave Price (00:04:37):But it's the amendment here, amendment there.Dave Price (00:04:40):Somehow a pesticide bill can be in,Dave Price (00:04:43):you know,Dave Price (00:04:44):that pesticide legislation protection thing you're talking about.Dave Price (00:04:47):That could somehow be tucked into a budget bill, which doesn't really make sense.Dave Price (00:04:51):Or that facet of her energy bill that overall wasn't going to happen,Dave Price (00:04:56):but the right of first refusal part.Dave Price (00:04:58):Like you just had to keep wondering and there'd be like a little rumor that would pop up.Dave Price (00:05:05):And we had this extended break and he kept thinking,Dave Price (00:05:07):okay,Dave Price (00:05:07):we got to see when this thing finally drops.Dave Price (00:05:09):What's the amendment going to be?Dave Price (00:05:10):What's the amendment going to be?Dave Price (00:05:12):The one thing that the House Republicans did kind of stand firm on would be thatDave Price (00:05:17):$14 million for the paraeducators.Dave Price (00:05:20):And that was something that they had told me for a while.Dave Price (00:05:23):They were...Dave Price (00:05:24):going to insist would make it in there the senate didn't want to do it but they hadDave Price (00:05:29):kind of backed off on the educational funding earlier on so they were determinedDave Price (00:05:34):that was going to be in there and you know then of course it has to it can't justDave Price (00:05:38):be like a normal appropriation it's got to be out of the sports wagering side ofDave Price (00:05:43):this and it's a one-time funding source which is what they've been saying for yearsDave Price (00:05:47):you can't do as a one-time funding sourceKathie Obradovich (00:05:49):Yeah,Kathie Obradovich (00:05:50):it is interesting how some of these principles start to peel away when you've gotKathie Obradovich (00:05:56):what is technically a deficit spending situation.Kathie Obradovich (00:06:00):I mean,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:00):yeah,Kathie Obradovich (00:06:01):you've got you're essentially spending more in out of general fund programs thanKathie Obradovich (00:06:0

Starting off this week we have some fun personal experiences with pets during interviews, updates on the overtime legislative session and budget negotiations, and discussions about education funding and budget cuts. The group also addressed political maneuvering within the Senate regarding eminent domain restrictions (after multiple caucuses on Friday, the Senate didn’t debate eminent domain). Finally, they discussed recent political announcements and potential candidates for upcoming elections (we had a slew of announcements this week and could get quite a few more in the coming weeks including the one that may be most awaited Rob Sand). The gang closes it out by considering the implications of primaries on general election outcomes. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms!AI generated transcript below:Dave Price (00:00:01):Hi, everyone.Dave Price (00:00:02):Welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast, a production of the Iowa Writers Collaborative.Dave Price (00:00:08):We are joining you on a Friday afternoon when all kinds of stuff is going on andDave Price (00:00:15):it's driving us crazy.Dave Price (00:00:16):So Laura Belin and Katie Obradovich and IDave Price (00:00:21):We'll have to figure out how to talk about stuff that's not yet resolved,Dave Price (00:00:26):even though it's all so ridiculously fascinating.Dave Price (00:00:31):Meanwhile, Laura and I are both dealing with uncooperative pets.Dave Price (00:00:36):We are not sure if they will make an appearance in this podcast.Dave Price (00:00:41):Perhaps they will, but ladies, good afternoon.Laura Belin (00:00:44):Good to be here.Dave Price (00:00:45):It's much more peaceful at Kathie's house apparently right now.Kathie Obradovich (00:00:49):A cat who could fly through the frame anytime.Kathie Obradovich (00:00:52):So we'll see.Dave Price (00:00:53):I did have one common random thing that happened this week.Dave Price (00:01:03):You couldn't see this happen on camera.Dave Price (00:01:06):This is for my TV gig, but her dog, they have two dogs.Dave Price (00:01:10):One of her dogs was barking off in the distance.Dave Price (00:01:12):I didn't hear it, but we had to stop and then I had to re-ask a question.Dave Price (00:01:15):No big deal.Dave Price (00:01:16):So that was on Monday.Dave Price (00:01:18):And then when I was talking to Jennifer Conferst,Dave Price (00:01:21):We were doing literally the last question and her dog comes up sort of behind herDave Price (00:01:28):in the background and kind of moves around a little bit,Dave Price (00:01:31):gets comfortable,Dave Price (00:01:32):and then just lies down on the floor,Dave Price (00:01:34):which was so cute and peaceful and didn't disturb anybody.Laura Belin (00:01:39):Well, Dave, when I interviewed Jennifer Converse, her dog started barking in the middle.Laura Belin (00:01:42):I think somebody rang the doorbell.Dave Price (00:01:47):Clearly I'm biased because I have a home studio, but it makes it so much more real.Dave Price (00:01:52):I feel like when we're at home rather than some sterile,Dave Price (00:01:55):boring office where the worst thing that can happen is like a coworker coughing orDave Price (00:02:00):like the power goes out or something,Dave Price (00:02:01):you know?Laura Belin (00:02:04):I think ever since COVID, people are very tolerant of child interruptions.Dave Price (00:02:08):It's all real.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:09):Yes.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:09):Although they judge you about your books.Dave Price (00:02:11):So I think, you know, good point.Dave Price (00:02:15):Good point.Dave Price (00:02:16):All right.Dave Price (00:02:16):So we have to address.Dave Price (00:02:19):whatever the heck is going on,Dave Price (00:02:21):which is so fascinating,Dave Price (00:02:23):but yet unpredictable as we gather here to talk about what could be near the end ofDave Price (00:02:30):the legislative session.Dave Price (00:02:32):So lawmakers shut things down.Dave Price (00:02:36):Then they the House at least came back on Thursday started some budget stuff andDave Price (00:02:40):sent instead some some subcommittee and committee work on the budget stuff too,Dave Price (00:02:44):but so the House comes back fully on the floor yesterday there had been talk.Dave Price (00:02:49):That they were going to get everybody in there,Dave Price (00:02:51):they were going to go all out they were going to power through everything that remained.Dave Price (00:02:58):and blow through the weekend and i talked to one member of the house who wasDave Price (00:03:04):telling me yes i'd like to finish b i really don't want to have to tell my wifeDave Price (00:03:11):that i will be gone for mother's day on sunday but then i heard all these differentDave Price (00:03:16):scenarios there were a couple of them who were optimistic that they were going toDave Price (00:03:19):power through on friday some other ones are like no way no way well now we knowDave Price (00:03:25):Well,Dave Price (00:03:25):now we're putting this on tape here,Dave Price (00:03:27):so I guess we're going to know one way or the other when this comes out,Dave Price (00:03:29):but they're not going to finish Friday night barring something cuckoo that we don't imagine.Dave Price (00:03:35):So it looks like they're going to start some work in the Senate,Dave Price (00:03:39):potentially one of the sexiest unresolved issues out there with this eminent domain situation,Dave Price (00:03:45):which we'll get to in a sec,Dave Price (00:03:47):and then break and then come back early next week and see if they can go through stuff.Dave Price (00:03:52):SoDave Price (00:03:53):Can we, let's save the group we call the Defiant Dozen.Dave Price (00:03:58):Let's push them off just for a sec,Dave Price (00:04:00):but let's do the budget because it seems like we're getting,Dave Price (00:04:06):we're starting to figure out how this is all going to shake out.Dave Price (00:04:09):Laura, do you want to take a first crack at this?Laura Belin (00:04:11):Sure.Laura Belin (00:04:11):So we finally got this week a budget agreement on Thursday afternoon between theLaura Belin (00:04:16):House and Senate Republicans.Laura Belin (00:04:17):And then later, Governor Reynolds released a statement saying she was on board.Laura Belin (00:04:21):We talked about last week how they were about the two sides were about thirty sixLaura Belin (00:04:26):million dollars apart,Laura Belin (00:04:27):which really is not very much.Laura Belin (00:04:29):And the House was the higher number.Laura Belin (00:04:32):so what they ended up doing was they they funded some of the house prioritiesLaura Belin (00:04:36):instead of through the general fund budget they're using some sports wageringLaura Belin (00:04:40):revenue to cover for instance the 14 million dollars for para educator pay which weLaura Belin (00:04:45):talked about and the house was able to get a little bit more money for communityLaura Belin (00:04:50):colleges not as much as they wanted but it's interesting to me because i thoughtLaura Belin (00:04:55):that for many many years the gambling revenue was supposed to be usedLaura Belin (00:04:59):for infrastructure type capital projects, not ongoing expenses like paraeducator pay.Laura Belin (00:05:07):So this seems to be another Rubicon that we're crossing here.Laura Belin (00:05:10):But in any case,Laura Belin (00:05:11):the final budget number is a lot closer to what the Senate and governor wanted thanLaura Belin (00:05:15):it is to what the House Republicans were asking for.Laura Belin (00:05:18):But then through this sports betting money,Laura Belin (00:05:21):they're going to be covering some of those other Republican priorities.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:26):We're getting to the point nowKathie Obradovich (00:05:27):where it's time to just acknowledge that that wagering,Kathie Obradovich (00:05:33):it does not have to be one time money,Kathie Obradovich (00:05:35):that that revenue can be used for other things.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:39):They stretch those limits all the time.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:42):And of course,Kathie Obradovich (00:05:43):the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund is mostly gambling money from the casinos,Kathie Obradovich (00:05:47):et cetera.Kathie Obradovich (00:05:49):And it's beenKathie Obradovich (00:05:52):uh decades now um and that money has been you know in some years you know a littleKathie Obradovich (00:05:58):less some years a little bit more it kind of comes and goes with the economy justKathie Obradovich (00:06:02):like the the revenues for the general fund it i think they should just acknowledgeKathie Obradovich (00:06:07):that this is real money and you know stop saying that they have to set it asideDave Price (00:06:13):imagine if way back in the day when they approved gamblingDave Price (00:06:20):and this was supposed to go towards schools, right?Dave Price (00:06:24):Yes.Dave Price (00:06:24):Imagine if we would have kept funding and operating our schools the same way,Dave Price (00:06:30):and all of that gambling money was the icing on top,Dave Price (00:06:35):we would have like the best paid teachers in the history of the world.Dave Price (00:06:39):We'd have class sizes that were 12,Dave Price (00:06:42):you know,Dave Price (00:06:43):instead of 28 and everything else you want to come.Dave Price (00:06:47):Every school in Iowa would look like these Taj Mahals they built in some of the newDave Price (00:06:53):schools in Waukee,Dave Price (00:06:54):but it clearly does not work out that way.Kathie Obradovich (00:06:59):Play these games,Kathie Obradovich (00:07:00):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:07:01):so,Kathie Obradovich (00:07:01):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:07:01):what we're talking about,Kathie Obradovich (00:07:02):and this has been a long time principle,Kathie Obradovich (00:07:04):for Republicans is not putting one-time money, as they call it, into ongoing expenses.Kathie Obradovich (00:07:13):And that is exactly what

We start off this week with a prediction nailed by Dave. The 2025 legislative session was scheduled to end on Friday. That didn’t happen (as predicted). Now where do we go from here. Pat Grassley is trying to distance himself a bit from the governor on these budget talks, and the house and senate are currently about $36 million apart and the budget needs to be done for the legislature to recess; Some house republicans may be using the budget standoff to force a senate vote on their carbon pipeline/eminent domain bill which senate republicans have been trying to avoid all session. Governor Reynolds’ pending retirement may also be playing a role in these negotiations; We have the latest on the Iowa Judicial Branch misallocating $27 million into the state general fund due to what they call ‘coding errors.’ Rob Sand was grilled on the issue at a House Oversight Committee meeting on Wednesday; We close out the show with the governor suing the Des Moines Register to protect the use of, in her words, ‘executive privilege.’ Thanks for watching/listening/reading and we’ll see ya next week!Transcript below:(00:00:01):Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast.(00:00:05):This is a collaboration and a project of the Iowa Writers Collaborative,(00:00:11):our group of about 70 or so writers from all over the place writing about all(00:00:17):things Iowa and how things impact.(00:00:20):people who live in the state of Iowa.(00:00:23):We come to you every week.(00:00:25):Right now we primarily focus on what is going on at the Iowa State House with the(00:00:30):Iowa Legislature and as we record this on Friday,(00:00:34):technically this is supposed to mark the unofficial end to the legislative session(00:00:38):or at least the last day that lawmakers get the extra pay for travel and lodging(00:00:44):and all that kind of stuff.(00:00:46):but it looks like overtime is once again on the agenda.(00:00:49):Let's bring in our regular contributors, Kathie Obradovich and Laura Bellin.(00:00:54):Hello to both of you.(00:00:56):I did.(00:00:56):Happy Friday.(00:00:58):You both know and knew that there was no way in heck this legislative session was(00:01:04):going to be finished today,(00:01:06):despite one party having supermajority control,(00:01:09):because sometimes family members do not get along.(00:01:12):And that appears to be the case of what we are witnessing.(00:01:16):And I appreciate that for most people, this is all likely inside politics and(00:01:22):stuff that doesn't generally impact their lives potentially,(00:01:27):or at least it's hard to figure out how it's going to impact our lives.(00:01:30):But let's get into this family drama first, shall we, Kathie?(00:01:34):What do you make about,(00:01:36):we have a couple of spats to get into,(00:01:38):but let's first start with Governor Kim Reynolds,(00:01:43):House Speaker Pat Grassley.(00:01:45):What has happened here?(00:01:48):Yeah, so I don't know what has caused this, but clearly they are not getting along.(00:01:56):Just a little bit of background here.(00:01:59):First of all, the legislature, when it comes right down to it, they have one job, one job.(00:02:05):They have to pass a budget.(00:02:08):And then anything else they do, you know, icing on the cake, all right?(00:02:12):This is their one job.(00:02:14):The House started passing their budget(00:02:18):yesterday, right?(00:02:20):So the day before they're supposed to adjourn for the year,(00:02:23):they started passing budget bills out of their subcommittees.(00:02:27):Earlier in the week, the Senate Republicans announced that they had a budget deal(00:02:35):With the governor, no mention of the House.(00:02:40):Yeah, and so the House obviously not on board with what the Senate wants.(00:02:46):I had heard at one point that they were as much as $80 million apart.(00:02:51):As it stands right now, they're about $36 million apart.(00:02:56):And about a $9.5 billion budget.(00:02:58):Yeah, nine and a half billion dollar budget.(00:03:01):And about half of that 36 million is one budget item,(00:03:04):a little less than half,(00:03:06):one budget item,(00:03:07):which we can get into.(00:03:07):But so, yeah, I don't know what the beef is between Grassley and the governor.(00:03:12):But Grassley and Jack Whitver,(00:03:15):the Senate majority leader,(00:03:17):also have not worked well together their whole time that they've both been leaders.(00:03:21):The Senate and House,(00:03:22):when they were the same party leadership,(00:03:25):used to have press conferences together.(00:03:27):Their chambers had joint appropriations committee meetings so that they could all(00:03:32):be on the same page with the budget.(00:03:34):They would typically release(00:03:36):budget targets at the same time.(00:03:38):And none of that has really happened since both Grassley and Whitford have been leaders.(00:03:42):I don't know if it's rivalry that people assumed that,(00:03:45):you know,(00:03:46):Pat Grassley being the grandson of Senator Chuck Grassley was going to run for(00:03:50):higher office and maybe Jack Whitford also wanted to run for higher office.(00:03:54):Don't know.(00:03:56):I just to break in on a parliamentary nerd note,(00:03:59):these joint budget subcommittees,(00:04:01):these have existed for something like 50 years in the legislature.(00:04:05):And I've talked to legislators from both parties who said how helpful it was to(00:04:09):have these joint meetings of House and Senate members working on the budget.(00:04:13):They would start working early in the year.(00:04:14):And even when it was divided control, it did help them.(00:04:18):Of course,(00:04:18):they still disagreed on how much to spend on different things,(00:04:20):but they were more on the same page,(00:04:23):I think,(00:04:23):than they are now.(00:04:24):I will say that trifectas,(00:04:25):I've talked to people who were involved with the Democratic trifecta from 2007(00:04:28):through 2010,(00:04:31):and there is a general tendency over the lifetime of a trifecta for people to start(00:04:36):getting along less well and for friction to develop.(00:04:39):That certainly happened in 2009,(00:04:42):2010,(00:04:42):compared to the first two years of the Democratic trifecta,(00:04:45):but it didn't manifest in this late session drama.(00:04:49):In fact, in 2010, the legislators actually finished early.(00:04:52):I think that's the only time(00:04:54):I can never remember.(00:04:54):They finished it before the scheduled adjournment date.(00:04:57):Yeah, it was.(00:04:57):So the best, best April I've ever had.(00:05:01):Yes.(00:05:02):But,(00:05:02):you know,(00:05:03):Jack Whitver,(00:05:04):when he became Senate majority leader,(00:05:05):it was very soon after that,(00:05:07):that they blew up these joint budget subcommittee meetings ostensibly because of(00:05:11):the COVID pandemic,(00:05:12):but it really wasn't anything to do with social distancing or having fewer people(00:05:16):in a room.(00:05:16):And of course they never went back to that.(00:05:18):And as Kathie mentioned,(00:05:19):They never went back to having the press conferences that they used to have the(00:05:24):House and Senate Republicans for many years.(00:05:26):So it's kind of dysfunctional.(00:05:27):And the Senate has been largely more aligned with the governor on almost all the issues.(00:05:32):I mean, the Senate passed the school voucher bill.(00:05:35):Bills in 2021,(00:05:36):2022,(00:05:36):the House,(00:05:38):there was a standoff then because the House Republicans,(00:05:41):there were too many who didn't want to publish it or didn't want to do that.(00:05:44):On the AEA bill,(00:05:46):what the Senate passed was much closer to the governor's original proposal for area(00:05:51):education agencies,(00:05:52):and it was really the demands of House Republicans.(00:05:55):I think there's that alignment.(00:05:57):But it is odd to me what's going on because $36 million difference in a budget of(00:06:02):this size is not that significant.(00:06:04):So you would think that they would have been able to work this out by now.(00:06:08):uh parliamentary nerd note should be a new t-shirt at raygun so i believe you have(00:06:17):just created the new sponsor for this podcast first of all i think i stole that(00:06:23):from jamie jamie dupree who's a congressional reporter i follow and he often puts(00:06:27):in his newsletter the parliamentary okay okay all right we better not we better not(00:06:32):steal that then i just(00:06:34):I was so surprised.(00:06:35):I appreciate that you brought up and I was working with my TV colleague yesterday on his story.(00:06:40):And I said,(00:06:42):let's be a little careful how we phrase this in that to all of us,(00:06:47):$36 million is a ton of money.(00:06:50):So I never want to discount a chunk like that.(00:06:53):Having said that,(00:06:54):and I should just pull out my calculator here and see what the math is,(00:06:57):but when you're talking $36 million out of $9.5 billion,(00:07:02):it's a very small percentage.(00:07:04):What struck me was that...(00:07:07):why on monday the governor decided to put this out publicly like this is something(00:07:16):you can all keep within the family and it doesn't need to go public like this and i(00:07:21):asked her about this for a tv story um that i'm putting together that i haven't yet(00:07:27):so i don't want to ruin the whole thing but i had asked her specifically about why(00:07:31):go public with this or whatever and there wasn't really a specific answer as you(00:07:35):can(00:07:35):as you can figure on this.(00:07:37):But this is clearly part of this sort of,(00:07:39):she's showing this united front with Jack Whitver,(00:07:43):Pat Grassley's on the other side,(00:07:45):but the difference in the money is small enough that it,(00:07:48):to me,(00:07:49):just demonstrates how much this relationship is jacked up right now to put this out(00:07:54):publi

The gang starts out this week with the mother/daughter lobbyist group B*****s Get Stuff Done (Yes, that’s their real name) claiming state representative Samantha Fett was a former stripper (an allegation Fett denies) and the ethics committee meeting concerning this controversy. Then, we move on to the anti-SLAPP law that has been sent to the governor’s desk that would help the freedom of speech and press in the state. Thirdly, infighting amongst republican legislators on the eminent domain debate. Is the carbon pipeline/eminent domain bill debate really coming to the senate floor? Will Summit Carbon Solutions have to just give up and go back to the drawing board? A bunch of good questions there. We wrap up the show WHERE’S THE BUDGET? The 2025 legislative session should be winding down in the next week or two but we haven’t seen a budget yet. When can we expect to see it? Is the governor gonna make her presence more felt in negotiations? Then, we’re out of here and Dave heads to the airport. Have a nice weekend!If you’re reading this on the Notes app, you can find the transcript below:(00:00:01):Hi,(00:00:01):everyone,(00:00:02):and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast,(00:00:05):a production of the Iowa Riders Collaborative,(00:00:08):where we gather every week to talk all things Iowa.(00:00:12):Sometimes it's stuff outside our state, but it impacts us in our state.(00:00:17):I am Dave Price with us this week.(00:00:20):As always, almost always, Kathy Obradovich, Laura Bellin.(00:00:24):Hello, ladies.(00:00:24):Good afternoon.(00:00:26):afternoon i shouldn't say good afternoon because you know by the time when people(00:00:30):listen this could be morning afternoon so good morning good afternoon good evening(00:00:34):good night all those things to you happy happy happy to all those things hey let's(00:00:40):lead off with(00:00:42):a committee meeting hearing.(00:00:44):Laura and I were both in the room for this.(00:00:46):This one was,(00:00:47):I need to keep like a book at home of like all the unusual things so that I can(00:00:53):figure out where they really rate on the list of how unusual something is.(00:00:58):But so to set this up,(00:01:00):we have a state representative,(00:01:02):Samantha Fett,(00:01:03):a Republican from Carlisle.(00:01:06):And so she filed an ethics complaint against this mother-daughter lawyer(00:01:12):lobbyist team.(00:01:14):Now, here's where I'm struggling, ladies.(00:01:17):This is a podcast.(00:01:18):This is not broadcast television, which I'm used to.(00:01:22):Do I say the name of this lobbying group in a podcast?(00:01:29):If you don't want to say it, I can say it, Dave, if you're worried.(00:01:35):It has a word in it that refers to a female dog, it could be, right?(00:01:42):And apparently this...(00:01:44):This group, Get Stuff Done, is the name of this group.(00:01:48):How did I do?(00:01:49):Get Stuff Done.(00:01:50):There we go.(00:01:50):There we go.(00:01:53):I got permission to use that word in my publication because it's the official name(00:01:58):of this group.(00:01:59):OK, fair enough.(00:02:00):Okay,(00:02:01):so this mother-daughter group,(00:02:04):and it's Heather Ryan and her daughter,(00:02:07):Heaven Chamberlain.(00:02:08):And they're involved in a lot of protests and different stuff.(00:02:11):But on their website, they do kind of a bio breakdown of the legislators.(00:02:18):And in it, under Samantha Fett, they allege that she's a former stripper.(00:02:24):So Representative Fett.(00:02:26):Fet files this complaint with the ethics committee.(00:02:30):They have this hearing this week.(00:02:33):Laura, you want to take it from there about the uniqueness of what we witnessed?(00:02:37):Yeah, I think this was unusual on several levels.(00:02:40):First of all,(00:02:40):when I saw the agenda for the committee meeting,(00:02:42):it said consideration of Fett complaints.(00:02:44):So I assumed it was a complaint against Samantha Fett because the only ethics(00:02:49):committee meetings I've ever seen in the Iowa House or Senate were complaints that(00:02:53):members of the public filed against state legislators.(00:02:57):So then the chair of the ethics committee,(00:03:00):Republican Representative Bill Gustoff,(00:03:02):sent me a copy of the complaint,(00:03:03):and I realized,(00:03:03):oh,(00:03:04):Oh, Samantha Fett filed the complaint.(00:03:06):So I had never seen a complaint filed by a legislator.(00:03:09):I had never seen a complaint filed against a lobbyist or lobbying group.(00:03:13):I knew that the lobbyists had to adhere to a code of ethics.(00:03:17):But I think that Bill Gustav said after the meeting that their staff had not,(00:03:22):at least in the last 20 years,(00:03:24):nobody could recall something like this happening.(00:03:26):And it was also unusual because(00:03:28):People spoke during the meeting,(00:03:30):the respondents,(00:03:32):both Heather Ryan and Heaven Chamberlain spoke,(00:03:34):and then Samantha said a few words.(00:03:37):And I've only ever seen at the ethics committee,(00:03:39):literally,(00:03:40):I remember going to one of these,(00:03:41):and it was over in about two and a half minutes.(00:03:43):They just...(00:03:44):You know, they didn't even discuss the complaint.(00:03:46):They just said,(00:03:47):you know,(00:03:47):I'll entertain a motion to dismiss and they dismissed it with no discussion.(00:03:51):So I thought this was unusual.(00:03:53):Also,(00:03:53):the Democrats on the ethics committee went and took a break to caucus and discuss(00:03:59):among themselves before they came back.(00:04:00):So it was an unusually lengthy meeting.(00:04:02):And we should also add that the ethics committee is unique,(00:04:05):that it has an equal number of both the Democrats and Republicans by statute.(00:04:10):Kathy,(00:04:10):this was kind of a made-for-TV moment where,(00:04:14):you know,(00:04:14):it's allegations of somebody being a stripper,(00:04:17):a group with b*****s in its name,(00:04:20):a word we had to dance around on TV because I didn't really want to say that on TV.(00:04:25):So all of that stuff aside,(00:04:27):and then also at the end of it,(00:04:29):you know,(00:04:29):we're doing our live shots for my TV station group.(00:04:33):and i have you know in the back of my mind i still have a manager's voice that has(00:04:39):stuck with me for years that with every story for tv we have to keep in mind this(00:04:44):so what factor right how does this thing relate to people's lives and in the tag(00:04:49):which is the kind of end part of the story i couldn't help but think that in my(00:04:54):mind that there's no real punishment(00:04:56):So the mother-daughter said, yeah, we did it.(00:05:00):They weren't required to take it down.(00:05:03):They got a public reprimand.(00:05:04):There's no fine.(00:05:06):It's not like if they get X number of these public reprimands,(00:05:10):they're going to lose their ability to lobby.(00:05:14):It was just sort of a public,(00:05:16):hey,(00:05:16):maybe you shouldn't do this,(00:05:17):but we're not going to tell you to take it down,(00:05:20):right?(00:05:21):So...(00:05:22):What was the point of this?(00:05:24):I would say that ethics hearing was actually a reward for this group because(00:05:29):whoever would have looked at their website before this complaint was filed,(00:05:34):this complaint got the group in front of TV cameras.(00:05:39):It got headlines raising this question about Samantha Fett's past,(00:05:47):which,(00:05:47):of course,(00:05:48):she did deny that she said it was untrue.(00:05:52):that she was a former stripper.(00:05:53):And it gave them an opportunity to kind of make fun of her because she did not(00:05:57):complain about the fact that that website also called her a Moms for Liberty(00:06:02):fanatic and the devil in disguise.(00:06:05):So I think that despite the public reprimand that these people who are the(00:06:17):lobbyists came out with the win on this one.(00:06:21):Well, I'm not, I wondered about the reasoning.(00:06:24):I mean,(00:06:25):it was an odd ethics complaint in that very few people would have ever heard about(00:06:29):this rumor,(00:06:30):if not for this complaint in this hearing.(00:06:33):And so now a lot of people have heard about the rumor, which Samantha Fett denies.(00:06:37):And of course,(00:06:38):you know,(00:06:38):it's as Heather Ryan said during hearing,(00:06:41):they would have taken down the post if she had requested that they take it down,(00:06:45):but she said that they didn't.(00:06:47):So I don't know whether(00:06:50):Maybe there was a goal to get them on record acknowledging that they didn't have(00:06:55):any evidence behind this claim,(00:06:57):that this was just a rumor that they heard from what they called a reliable source,(00:07:01):but who even knows what that is?(00:07:03):And I don't know whether there's plans for some kind of defamation action.(00:07:07):I mean,(00:07:07):it's very difficult usually for public figures to file a defamation claim,(00:07:12):but I don't really see what was accomplished from the hearing.(00:07:16):Although Representative Fett said that(00:07:18):She just wanted to make she wanted there to be consequences for saying something.(00:07:23):And she wanted people put on notice that there could be consequences.(00:07:26):I'm curious to see whether any other legislators file any complaints against(00:07:31):something that a group that lobbies at the Capitol says.(00:07:34):And she's, you know, her outside of the Capitol job is to work in marketing.(00:07:40):And she said this would not be good for her to be accused of this.(00:07:43):And she wanted to kind of clear a name, I guess.(00:07:47):comments from the, I don't remember if it was Ms.(00:07:53):Chamberlain or Ms.(00:07:54):Ryan who said this, but they said there's no shame in being a sex worker.(00:07:57):They didn't consider it.(00:07:58):Heather Ryan said that.(00:08:02):It had it

The team starts off by remembering Jay Byers, Simpson College president and former CEO of the Des Moines Partnership, after his passing on Thursday. Topics this week include; 52 unsolved cases will be printed on playing cards and distributed in the state’s prisons to generate new leads under Attorney General’s initiative; Bill allowing child victims to testify remotely advances in the Iowa House; Update on the ‘Baby Olivia’ video bill; Governor Reynolds has received a bill that would require high schoolers to pass the US citizenship test in order to graduate; Ashley Hinson has competition in US House District 2; Who might run against Sen. Ernst in a republican primary? Nathan Sage enters the US Senate race on the democratic side against Joni Ernst, and the launch video that Dave mentions can be found right here:That’s about it for this week! Please share, comment, like, etc. Paid subscribers are always welcome as well. We appreciate your support. Have a nice Easter and Passover!Here’s the transcript for those checking this out on the Substack Notes app:(00:00:00):Hi,(00:00:01):everyone,(00:00:01):and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast,(00:00:04):a production of the Iowa Writers Collaborative,(00:00:08):our group of about 70 independent writers from all over the place writing about(00:00:14):numerous topics,(00:00:15):including politics,(00:00:17):which is what we're talking about here on the podcast.(00:00:20):Let's bring in our contributors for this week, Laura Bellin and Kathy Obradovich.(00:00:24):Happy Friday to both of you.(00:00:26):Good to be here.(00:00:27):Goodness, thanks.(00:00:29):Let's start off with something super, super sad on Thursday.(00:00:34):A very,(00:00:36):very well-known figure in the community,(00:00:39):Jay Byers,(00:00:40):who since the summer of 2023 has been the president of Simpson College,(00:00:46):was found dead in the president's residence hall,(00:00:52):which is just kind of right near campus.(00:00:56):there in Indianola.(00:00:57):And you both know Jay.(00:00:59):Jay has been a part of so many circles.(00:01:05):Started in politics.(00:01:06):He worked for Leonard Boswell a long time ago.(00:01:09):He was the head of the Greater Des Moines Partnership for more than 11 years and(00:01:14):really helped build that organization to hand it off to where it is today.(00:01:20):was really excited to go back to Simpson,(00:01:22):his alma mater,(00:01:23):to become president there and was all about promoting Simpson,(00:01:29):but was part of so many community efforts and business efforts.(00:01:34):And he was a musician, a guitar player.(00:01:36):I mean, he was so well known and so beloved.(00:01:39):And it's so sad for Katie.(00:01:42):Katie and the girls about about Jay's passing.(00:01:46):But did you did you all want to share a quick note?(00:01:49):I would just say, you know, Jay was so well known and his enthusiasm was so infectious.(00:01:57):I mean,(00:01:57):he was always I never saw him when it wasn't on,(00:02:01):you know,(00:02:02):and and he had such enthusiasm and he would have I mean,(00:02:08):he already was doing good things at Simpson(00:02:12):And as you said, he was very influential with the Greater Des Moines Partnership.(00:02:16):It's just, I mean, when he would walk into a room, he knew everyone, everybody knew him.(00:02:23):And yeah, it's completely shocking.(00:02:25):I was driving back from running an errand yesterday and my reporter called and I(00:02:32):practically had to stop the car.(00:02:34):I was so shocked.(00:02:36):It's just a tragedy.(00:02:39):I didn't know him personally.(00:02:40):I had met him.(00:02:41):I had seen him at events representing the partnership.(00:02:44):But I didn't even know about his music background.(00:02:47):But I saw just the outpouring of posts that I saw yesterday that he was a mentor to many people.(00:02:52):And somebody said he even gave her guitar lessons.(00:02:55):So just really incredibly tragic.(00:02:58):And I was so sad to hear.(00:03:01):Jay was so great in so many capacities over the years.(00:03:04):But personally, he was also...(00:03:06):super helpful for me to sit down and have coffee as we sort of brainstorm my(00:03:11):midlife reinvention.(00:03:12):He was very helpful with that.(00:03:15):He always had advice for stuff.(00:03:18):He was so super well-read that he could cite some, oh, you ought to read this.(00:03:24):And he has touched so many people in so many different ways.(00:03:30):So, so sorry for his wife.(00:03:33):and and the girls as they as they mourn his loss okay let's uh let's segue into(00:03:40):politics here let's get over to the iowa state house um laura you and i actually(00:03:46):ventured slightly a couple blocks away from this state house to cover this event(00:03:51):with attorney general brenna bird over at the des moines police department and i'm(00:03:58):still trying to think through(00:04:02):everything that was involved in this and i guess this is what i mean by this there(00:04:05):were so she is and she announced this initiative where they will have playing cards(00:04:12):and the playing cards will feature 52 unsolved cases in iowa from goes back a(00:04:20):number of years here(00:04:22):And they had some of the victims, family members who were at this event.(00:04:28):And I couldn't help but think,(00:04:30):some of them I've interviewed over the years because I had covered at least two of(00:04:34):the cases that they featured.(00:04:36):And I was trying to think what it's like to see your family member in a playing card.(00:04:41):The Attorney General talked about they've had successes in a couple other states,(00:04:44):including Connecticut,(00:04:45):where you put these things out,(00:04:47):and primarily it goes to jails and prisons and that,(00:04:51):and the folks there may have heard about some crime,(00:04:54):and maybe they have a little nugget that can...(00:04:59):that can perhaps solve a crime and they claim in Connecticut they've had success.(00:05:03):But what did you make of the whole event?(00:05:05):I mean, it's an interesting idea if it's a way at all to possibly get that clue to solve these.(00:05:14):I thought it was an odd event.(00:05:17):The cold case unit is something Brenda Byrd has really talked about a lot that was(00:05:22):created last year,(00:05:23):and now it's fully staffed,(00:05:25):and they are working through more than 400 cold cases,(00:05:28):and they selected,(00:05:29):as you said,(00:05:30):52 for these playing cards.(00:05:32):I asked about how can Iowans...(00:05:36):see these cards.(00:05:37):And they're not really for public distribution.(00:05:39):They're going to be distributed in jails,(00:05:42):prisons,(00:05:42):where they think people might know something or know somebody who knows something(00:05:49):about one of these cases.(00:05:50):And I do understand the concept of it,(00:05:53):but I was talking with someone yesterday who questioned,(00:05:55):you know,(00:05:55):why did she do a press conference about this?(00:05:58):It's not, they're not available to the public.(00:06:01):And it seemed(00:06:03):kind of like promoting herself and her role.(00:06:06):This is something that they could do quietly.(00:06:08):It didn't need to be in a press conference.(00:06:10):And I think obviously a lot of reporters were there wanting to ask her about some other things.(00:06:15):I had questions not even necessarily related to the governor's race,(00:06:18):but I had questions about other initiatives(00:06:21):in her office that we weren't able to ask about because they wanted to keep things(00:06:25):only on the topic of the cold cases and these playing cards.(00:06:30):So in that sense,(00:06:31):I always think it's unfortunate when a public official has a press conference and(00:06:36):then they don't take any questions afterwards.(00:06:39):About anything other than she did take questions about.(00:06:41):Yes, I'm sorry about about other topics.(00:06:43):Yes.(00:06:44):Kathy, what did you make of it?(00:06:46):Well,(00:06:46):I when I first heard that she was doing playing cards,(00:06:48):I my first thought was that it was going to be like,(00:06:52):remember,(00:06:52):during the during the Iraq war,(00:06:56):you know,(00:06:57):there were playing cards with the most wanted terrorists.(00:06:59):Mm hmm.(00:07:02):And different people distributed that to the public.(00:07:04):So I thought it was going to be something like that.(00:07:06):And then when I heard it was just going to jails and prisons, like, what is the point of that?(00:07:11):But yeah,(00:07:12):I mean,(00:07:12):I get that that might shake some thought loose from somebody that might be helpful(00:07:18):to the case.(00:07:18):And it's kind of a gimmick, I guess.(00:07:21):But I do agree that the press conference itself was probably a self-promotional(00:07:28):thing for somebody who you know maybe possibly thinking about running for higher(00:07:33):office and it it always gets so challenging because i think we're gonna we're gonna(00:07:40):be respectful of their requests there i mean they did have family members in the(00:07:44):room and that is what staff had asked and the attorney general had asked as well(00:07:48):tonight you know to to keep it focused on the topic when governor reynolds does(00:07:53):something like that typically(00:07:57):She will do on topic questions first they dismiss the guests and then there'll be(00:08:03):some kind of gaggle or some kind of availability that we have that we can ask that(00:08:09):now the governor hasn't done a lot last couple of months necessarily but but.(00:08:13):That's kind of a way that you can do both things.(00:08:18):That's what Brenna Byrd did when she announced the cold case unit last June or July.(00:08:23):I think it was in June, but she had an event.(00:08:25):It was at the Polk County Sheriff's Department.(00:08:27):They had a bunch of people there from law enforcement and

We had a whole list of topics to discuss, and then that went out the window around 11:15 Friday morning! Pretty much just one story to cover this week. Our reporters react to the unexpected news that Governor Kim Reynolds will not run for reelection in 2026. How much of a surprise was this? Is Chris Cournoyer a possibility? Is Brenna Bird now a lock for the GOP primary? Will there be a serious primary challenger to Brenna Bird if she decides to run? How much will Trump’s record effect the electorate? How does this effect the democratic primary? Is it now a one-man (Rob Sand) show? We end with when was the last time a politician announcing they weren’t running for reelection was this surprising? Have a good weekend, and thanks for watching/listening!Transcript:Dave Price (00:00:03):Hi,Dave Price (00:00:03):everyone,Dave Price (00:00:03):and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballad podcast,Dave Price (00:00:07):a production of the Iowa Riders Collaborative.Dave Price (00:00:10):We gather here every week to talk about all kinds of stuff going on at the Iowa legislature.Dave Price (00:00:16):Primarily.Dave Price (00:00:18):And that's what we thought we were going to do in this episode as well.Dave Price (00:00:22):Until late Friday morning when stuff really, really changed.Dave Price (00:00:25):Let's bring in our contributors for this week, Laura Bellin, Kathy Obradovich.Dave Price (00:00:31):Ladies,Dave Price (00:00:31):as we know,Dave Price (00:00:32):we sort of put together this little rundown of stuff we're going to talk about.Dave Price (00:00:36):And today we could just hit delete,Dave Price (00:00:39):although Laura and I are having ridiculous computer issues,Dave Price (00:00:42):so perhaps they would have already been deleted anyway.Dave Price (00:00:45):But we're going to probably just have one topic, don't you think?Dave Price (00:00:48):I think so.Dave Price (00:00:50):All right, Kathy, so you're sitting there in your palatial office today, right?Dave Price (00:00:55):And all of a sudden your phone starts buzzing.Kathie Obradovich (00:00:59):Yes.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:00):So we had we knew that there was going to be some sort of announcement today.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:06):But like I think just about every politics watcher in Iowa,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:12):we assumed that it would be that the governor,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:15):Kim Reynolds,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:16):was announcing that she was running for reelection.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:19):And I had a reporter watching for the announcement.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:23):I actually was running an errand, and it was in Norwalk, of all places.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:31):But I kept watching for the announcement,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:35):and yeah,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:36):all of a sudden seeing people thanking the governor for her service,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:42):I was like,Kathie Obradovich (00:01:42):what are you doing?Kathie Obradovich (00:01:44):Well, wait a minute.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:45):Yeah.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:45):Back it up.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:46):Back it up.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:47):So, I mean, I have gone back and forth about whether I thought she was going to run.Kathie Obradovich (00:01:53):And way back during the caucus campaign when she endorsed Ron DeSantis.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:01):over Donald Trump in the Iowa caucus campaign,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:05):I thought that might be a sign that she was not thinking about running.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:10):I mean, or that she might that she might not run for reelection to poke Donald Trump in the eye.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:19):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:19):as you're,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:20):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:20):potentially,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:21):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:22):heading into another re-election campaign didn't seem like the smartest move in the world.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:27):You know,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:28):maybe it would have been if Ron DeSantis had won,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:31):but,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:31):you know,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:34):and we all have reported on the governor's husband's health with his lung cancer,Kathie Obradovich (00:02:44):et cetera.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:44):So I really did thinkKathie Obradovich (00:02:46):You know, as recently as the summer before 2024 that that she might not run.Kathie Obradovich (00:02:55):However, this year in 2025, she has given every indication that she was going to run.Dave Price (00:03:00):She basically told us in February she was running, right?Laura Belin (00:03:04):She said, I'm running on my record.Dave Price (00:03:06):Yes.Laura Belin (00:03:07):And then Amanda Rooker said, Governor, are you running?Laura Belin (00:03:10):And she said, well, no announcement.Laura Belin (00:03:12):Stay tuned.Laura Belin (00:03:14):No announcement today.Laura Belin (00:03:16):I mean,Laura Belin (00:03:16):I would say in early 2024,Laura Belin (00:03:19):I think the conventional wisdom was that she was not running.Laura Belin (00:03:21):That's what I heard from most of my sources.Laura Belin (00:03:23):Very early.Laura Belin (00:03:25):Very early.Laura Belin (00:03:25):But as soon as the Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver's cancer diagnosis becameLaura Belin (00:03:33):publicly known,Laura Belin (00:03:34):that's when things started changing,Laura Belin (00:03:36):at least for me.Laura Belin (00:03:38):I started hearing well.Laura Belin (00:03:40):maybe she might run.Laura Belin (00:03:41):And then when she chose Chris Knoyer as her new lieutenant governor,Laura Belin (00:03:45):I thought for sure she's running because if she weren't planning to run,Laura Belin (00:03:48):she would pick somebody who might be in a position to step up and run for the office.Laura Belin (00:03:52):And Chris Knoyer is a Nikki Haley endorser.Laura Belin (00:03:56):I mean, it's not somebody who is seriously positioned to win a statewide GOP primary.Laura Belin (00:04:00):SoLaura Belin (00:04:01):And as Dave just mentioned,Laura Belin (00:04:03):in February at a press conference,Laura Belin (00:04:04):the governor basically said,Laura Belin (00:04:06):I'm gonna be running on my record.Laura Belin (00:04:07):She was asked about former state representative,Laura Belin (00:04:10):Brad Sherman,Laura Belin (00:04:10):who had just announced that he was planning to run for governor.Laura Belin (00:04:13):And I presumed would likely be in a primary against the governor.Laura Belin (00:04:17):So she raised a decent amount of money last year,Laura Belin (00:04:20):which again,Laura Belin (00:04:21):indicates that somebody is planning to seek another term.Laura Belin (00:04:24):So I was very surprised by today's news.Dave Price (00:04:28):i feel like i need to like split my head in half because i feel like one half iDave Price (00:04:35):could make a solid argument and pick up all these breadcrumbs over the last twoDave Price (00:04:40):years where i felt like she wasn't going to run and then the other half would beDave Price (00:04:44):the complete opposite of that largely reflects the timeline you laid out kathy iDave Price (00:04:51):just remember her talking after kevin's diagnosis andDave Price (00:04:57):I mean,Dave Price (00:04:58):obviously,Dave Price (00:04:58):that's a huge,Dave Price (00:04:59):scary thing to go through,Dave Price (00:05:01):not to mention the governor's been helping out with her folks who are up there inDave Price (00:05:07):their 80s,Dave Price (00:05:08):and they've had some stuff to navigate.Dave Price (00:05:11):And so she's involved in all of those fronts.Dave Price (00:05:15):And she has made the comment that she didn't want to be in office forever.Dave Price (00:05:19):And so I felt like,Dave Price (00:05:21):and then you go all the way up to the DeSantis announcement,Dave Price (00:05:24):and you're thinking,Dave Price (00:05:25):all right,Dave Price (00:05:26):she's thinking she wants the party to break from trump maybe desantis is the bestDave Price (00:05:31):way to do that move forward trump loses they're done with that and then whateverDave Price (00:05:36):happens happens but it did seem likeDave Price (00:05:40):I mean, even on election night, she was not in Iowa on election night.Dave Price (00:05:45):She was at Mar-a-Lago with Joni Ernst.Dave Price (00:05:48):Two people who really wanted to repair their relationship with Donald Trump.Dave Price (00:05:53):And she's been to D.C.Dave Price (00:05:54):who knows how many times since then.Dave Price (00:05:56):It just seemed like she was doing everything to repair that relationship.Dave Price (00:06:01):And I kept dropping that in my stories on TV talking about that because it seemed likeDave Price (00:06:06):That was a priority for her.Dave Price (00:06:07):And at that same news conference you talked about,Dave Price (00:06:09):Laura,Dave Price (00:06:10):I remember asking her about if she expected to get Trump's endorsement and she saidDave Price (00:06:14):something about kind of like,Dave Price (00:06:15):we'll see.Dave Price (00:06:16):And she laid out a bunch of stuff she's done and she assumed that he would like allDave Price (00:06:20):those things.Dave Price (00:06:22):And so, man, you line all those things up and you wonder what changed between then and now.Dave Price (00:06:28):And hopefully it is just that she's done and that there's not some kind ofDave Price (00:06:34):health situation in any way.Dave Price (00:06:35):I did find it interesting,Dave Price (00:06:38):especially this session,Dave Price (00:06:39):and I think I've mentioned this to you two before.Dave Price (00:06:41):I don't know that I have,Dave Price (00:06:44):I moved here in 2001,Dave Price (00:06:45):so I think I have four governors if I'm counting right in my head.Dave Price (00:06:49):I don't know that I ever remember a governor doing fewer public appearances thanDave Price (00:06:53):Kim Reynold

* Three of the top political reporters in Iowa are back with a lot more to discuss this week. First off a grateful Dave thanks pinch-hitter Erin for sharing his office space in Des Moines and then we’re off to the races. Topics this week include; The impact of Trump’s tariffs, especially on the state of Iowa; Each of our panelists attended the legislative leadership avails (minus Governor Reynolds) on Thursday and give their top lines; A possible end to the bill that would have made it harder to sue producers of glyphosate (Roundup) for possible cancer links; Where do we stand with the carbon pipeline/eminent domain issue in the statehouse including large energy companies possibly entering the fray; Have a good weekend!Here’s the transcript if you’d like to read the conversation: Dave Price (00:00:01):Hi, everybody, and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast.Dave Price (00:00:06):This is a production of the Iowa Riders Collaborative,Dave Price (00:00:10):our misfit group of about 80 different columnists from all over the place,Dave Price (00:00:14):for the most part,Dave Price (00:00:15):talking about all things Iowa,Dave Price (00:00:18):or at least how things relate to what's going on in our state.Dave Price (00:00:22):Let's bring our contributors in.Dave Price (00:00:25):Laura Bellin, our regular from the Bleeding Heartland.Dave Price (00:00:27):Hello to you.Laura Belin (00:00:28):Good to see you, Dave.Dave Price (00:00:30):And we have a pinch hitter batting second.Dave Price (00:00:32):He's a righty, still looking to bust his way into the majors.Dave Price (00:00:38):Aaron Murphy, the Des Moines Bureau Chief for the Cedar Rapids Gazette.Erin Murphy (00:00:42):What's going on?Erin Murphy (00:00:44):Proud to describe myself as the ever sought light hitting first baseman.Erin Murphy (00:00:49):Good to be here, Dave.Dave Price (00:00:51):Are we allowed to discuss that we occasionally share an office,Dave Price (00:00:55):your company and my company,Dave Price (00:00:56):only because of your generosity?Dave Price (00:00:59):Is that something we're allowed to say publicly?Erin Murphy (00:01:01):We probably should because if we hear a sneeze in the background while I'mErin Murphy (00:01:05):recording here,Erin Murphy (00:01:05):it's your co-worker,Erin Murphy (00:01:06):Connor.(00:01:07):SoDave Price (00:01:09):Yes,Dave Price (00:01:09):who is like six inches away from you because that's how the space works out in that office.Dave Price (00:01:14):So let me publicly express my gratitude to Aaron Murphy,Dave Price (00:01:18):who has tolerated our TV duo from just completely intruding on his businessDave Price (00:01:27):personal space there.Dave Price (00:01:29):He has wedged himself into this tiny corner.Dave Price (00:01:32):Yeah, I'm sorry, Dave.Dave Price (00:01:33):Watching on video, everything you see, that's all Aaron has right there.Erin Murphy (00:01:37):Yeah,Erin Murphy (00:01:37):Connor's actually waving at me right now asking if I can just kind of scoot back aDave Price (00:01:41):little bit.Dave Price (00:01:42):My television colleague, Connor Hendricks, in the room with him.Dave Price (00:01:46):So this will be my public gratitude to Aaron,Dave Price (00:01:50):who has graciously allowed us to infringe on his base.Laura Belin (00:01:53):So thanks for jumping in with us.Laura Belin (00:01:55):I want to express my gratitude that Aaron,Laura Belin (00:01:57):who also is the president of the Iowa Capitol Press Association,Laura Belin (00:02:01):was able to get us a media availability with the Iowa Senate president,Laura Belin (00:02:04):Amy Sinclair,Laura Belin (00:02:05):yesterday,Laura Belin (00:02:06):which had not been announced or scheduled,Laura Belin (00:02:08):but he was the squeaky wheel who got the grease.Erin Murphy (00:02:12):And that was nice.Erin Murphy (00:02:13):It was, it was, I appreciate that, Lauren.Erin Murphy (00:02:15):It was nice to have,Erin Murphy (00:02:17):especially at that funnel deadline,Erin Murphy (00:02:19):which we may talk about here in a little bit.Erin Murphy (00:02:20):It was nice to have the perspectives of all four leadership caucuses that day.Erin Murphy (00:02:25):So it was, it was good to get Senator Sinclair out there with us.Dave Price (00:02:29):Yep.Dave Price (00:02:29):Yep.Dave Price (00:02:32):I don't know how to begin this discussion without,Dave Price (00:02:37):I know we're very Iowa focused,Dave Price (00:02:39):but how do we not talk about tariffs?Dave Price (00:02:42):I think almost outside of talking to my son and daughter today,Dave Price (00:02:47):I don't know that I've spoken to anyone today where anybodyDave Price (00:02:51):Tariffs have not come up other than the insurance person talking about trying to fix my car.Dave Price (00:02:56):But other than that, I mean, it's in every way.Dave Price (00:02:59):And I was just looking at the headline that down another six percent on Friday.Dave Price (00:03:05):So it's some kind of six trillion dollar.Dave Price (00:03:09):overall wealth loss over the last two days.Dave Price (00:03:13):Aaron, since you're our guest star here, what do you make all of this?Dave Price (00:03:18):And as a reporter,Dave Price (00:03:19):what's going through your head about how you need to look at the coverage of this?Erin Murphy (00:03:24):Yeah,Erin Murphy (00:03:24):well,Erin Murphy (00:03:25):I mean,Erin Murphy (00:03:25):like anything,Erin Murphy (00:03:26):and as you alluded to,Erin Murphy (00:03:29):my job is to cover Iowa,Erin Murphy (00:03:31):so you're always thinking of it through the prism of,Erin Murphy (00:03:33):okay,Erin Murphy (00:03:34):how does this impact Iowans?Erin Murphy (00:03:35):And in a lot of ways,Erin Murphy (00:03:36):stuff like this impacts Iowans the same way it does everybody else in the country,Erin Murphy (00:03:41):but there are ways you can look at it differently,Erin Murphy (00:03:43):and in the spirit of continual cross-promotion here,Erin Murphy (00:03:47):Dave,Erin Murphy (00:03:48):you and I chatted with some folks earlier this morning for the Iowa Press episodeErin Murphy (00:03:53):that we'llErin Murphy (00:03:54):air over the weekend and we talked about a little bit about how that could impactErin Murphy (00:03:58):the ag economy here and an agricultural economy in the state that was already sortErin Murphy (00:04:04):of wobbly in the knees even before all this and and uh what kind of impact thatErin Murphy (00:04:10):could have and all the ancillary impacts that has beyond farmers out toErin Murphy (00:04:14):manufacturers and and and the like and soErin Murphy (00:04:18):Yeah, you just I selfishly, I have not logged into my 401k account in the last day or two.Erin Murphy (00:04:28):I'm putting that off.Erin Murphy (00:04:30):Yeah.Erin Murphy (00:04:32):But yeah,Erin Murphy (00:04:33):you know,Erin Murphy (00:04:33):you know,Erin Murphy (00:04:33):for the job,Erin Murphy (00:04:34):you look for the ways that,Erin Murphy (00:04:35):you know,Erin Murphy (00:04:37):you talk to Iowans about how could this impact them and the people around them andErin Murphy (00:04:42):the industries around them.Dave Price (00:04:44):Laura, do you how do you how do you look at what you should focus on?Laura Belin (00:04:47):Well,Laura Belin (00:04:48):Dan Piller,Laura Belin (00:04:48):who's a longtime business reporter,Laura Belin (00:04:51):former ag reporter for the Des Moines Register,Laura Belin (00:04:53):now retired,Laura Belin (00:04:54):he just wrote something for Bleeding Heartland that I'm about to publish hereLaura Belin (00:04:58):shortly after this about the impact of the tariffs.Laura Belin (00:05:00):And I think that this is going to affect a lot more people than the first TrumpLaura Belin (00:05:05):administration tariffs.Laura Belin (00:05:06):They did adversely affect ag.Laura Belin (00:05:08):There was a big bailout of farmers.Laura Belin (00:05:11):But I don't think the average American was aware of what's going on.Laura Belin (00:05:15):But these are so much more extensive than what the tariffs that were done at that time.Laura Belin (00:05:20):And even at that time,Laura Belin (00:05:21):I mean,Laura Belin (00:05:21):the farmers,Laura Belin (00:05:22):they had the short-term help from the federal government,Laura Belin (00:05:24):but there was a long-term loss in export markets.Laura Belin (00:05:26):And that's one thing that Dan has focused on,Laura Belin (00:05:29):that it's not going to necessarily be so easy to recover that.Laura Belin (00:05:32):But also...Laura Belin (00:05:34):Well,Laura Belin (00:05:34):a certain small percentage of Iowans work directly in farming and a slightly largerLaura Belin (00:05:39):percentage work in some ag related position.Laura Belin (00:05:42):I mean,Laura Belin (00:05:43):100 percent of people are going to be paying more for clothes,Laura Belin (00:05:46):shoes,Laura Belin (00:05:47):basic household goods.Laura Belin (00:05:48):So I think this will be something food.Laura Belin (00:05:51):Yeah, absolutely.Laura Belin (00:05:51):People are going to be talking about this a lot more than we've ever heard before.Dave Price (00:05:56):Yeah, I'm so curious if how much people can stomach with this.Dave Price (00:06:02):You know,Dave Price (00:06:02):you have the really kind of diehard Trump supporters who say,Dave Price (00:06:07):all right,Dave Price (00:06:07):we got a guy who's sticking up for us.Dave Price (00:06:09):We've been screwed on these deals.Dave Price (00:06:11):I remember when we used to make this in our town.Dave Price (00:06:14):Grandpa used to do it.Dave Price (00:06:15):Now that's gone.Dave Price (00:06:16):And, you know, all of this stuff that you're mad and upset about.Dave Price (00:06:20):And we're hearing the talk even from Republicans who have backed Trump aboutDave Price (00:06:26):including the Secretary of Agriculture,Dave Price (00:06:28):Brooke Rollins,Dave Price (00:06:29):when she was here this past week,Dave Pri

Another episode with a ton of information on what’s happening at the Iowa Capitol. This week’s topics include; Is property tax reform legislation going to come together yet this year, and if it does, in what form? Hands-free driving *finally* passes (and some good background on why it took so long to join most of the rest of the country), AG Bird sues the Winneshiek Sheriff and what the latest is on that story, Laura gets some surprisingly transparent answers from republican legislators on eminent domain and the carbon pipeline, plus what each reporter is working on over the next few days including some exclusive news from Dave on a possible run for US senate run from Zach Wahls. Get full access to Iowa Down Ballot at iowawriterscollaborative.substack.com/subscribe