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Prichard, Brown meet the public in Charles City

Iowa State Sen. Waylon Brown, R-St. Ansgar, and Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, field questions at a luncheon at NIACC in Charles City on Friday. Press photo by James Grob.
Iowa state Sen. Waylon Brown, R-St. Ansgar, left, and Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, field questions at a luncheon at NIACC in Charles City on Friday. Press photo by James Grob.
By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

A spectrum of issues — from can and bottle redemption, to taxes and budgets, to mental health care — were on the minds of the public, as about 50 people gathered with state Rep. Todd Prichard and state Sen. Waylon Brown for a luncheon Friday.

The event was held at the NIACC Center in Charles City and was hosted by the Iowa Farm Bureau.

“My focus right now has been on budget issues,” said Prichard at the start of the event. “This budget is about 120 pages, and it covers a lot of ground, but we need to balance the budget. There’s no reason we can’t balance the budget with unemployment as low as it is.”

He said he’s frustrated that the state Legislature is having to de-appropriate about $10 million dollars from this year’s budget due to a revenue shortfall.

Although the shortage of dollars isn’t nearly as steep as it was a year ago, Prichard said it would still be painful. “That will hurt. There will be some cuts.”

One audience member asked Prichard and Brown if it was sensible to reduce taxes when the state is so short on funds.

“Im all for cutting taxes when we can. The government shouldn’t collect any more or any less taxes than it needs,” Prichard said. “But here we are cutting our budget for the second year in a row, and the governor is projecting $320 million in tax cuts between now and 2025. How do we budget for that?”

Prichard said that many of his constituents have told him that they are willing to deal with higher taxes if it means vital programs can survive and function.

He said that he never talks to anyone who tells him to “lower corporate taxes,” but that most people he talks to are more concerned about adequately funding essential programs.

“I believe Iowans are willing to pay for a quality education and quality programs that demonstrate value for Iowa,” he said. “What I’d like to see is an amendment that says we’re going to review all of the 40 or 50 tax credits that are out there.

“Are these having the desired effect? We need to find out if these expenditures are growing Iowa’s economy. I was disappointed that that’s not in the governor’s version of the tax bill. It needs to be in there.”

Prichard said there about $600 million in tax credits out there.

Brown said he favors a balanced approach, and talked about the difficulties involved with cutting unnecessary tax credits.

“All tax credits are on the table, but anytime we say that we’re going to look at tax credits, all those people who get taxs credits come out of the woodwork and say, ‘don’t touch ours,’” he said.

“I think that there can be a combination. I think that we can do things to widen our base and give us a pro-growth era,” Brown said. “I think that if we reduce the income tax, I think that we can look at a sales tax.”

The two elected officials had gathered at a similar event, held in New Hampton, earlier Friday morning. Brown, a Republican from St. Ansgar, represents the 26th Iowa Senate District, while Prichard, a Democrat, represents the 52nd Iowa House District.

The fact that two elected officials from opposite political parties could calmly discuss issues — and even agree on many of them — impressed many in attendance.

One person asked Prichard and Brown if their example would catch on — would Democrats and Republicans in Des Moines find a way to work together to address problems, such as mental health?

“I’ve been focusing on the health insurance individual marketplace,” said Brown, who added that health insurance and mental health were two of the issues most important to him. “Right now we have premiums skyrocketing to levels that are not sustainable.”

Brown said he had worked on a bill — the Association Health Plan — that would focus on that. It has recently passed the Senate, and had passed out of the House Commerce Committee on Thursday.

“It allows for small businesses and independent contractors to form together and form associations so they can provide health insurance for themselves and their employees.”

Brown also said that he also supports a bill to allow farm agencies to sell policies that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act.

Brown said he also is trying to address the issue of mental health.

“That effects everybody,” he said. “We need to provide those services so they’re there when individuals need them.”

Prichard agreed, and said that there are some signs of the parties working together on the issue.

“The Republicans are in control of everything,” said Prichard. “They don’t need me. With that said, a bill passed the House last week in a very bipartisan manner. It’s a policy bill — it makes a lot of good policy changes for mental health.”

The bill, however, does not provide any additional funding.

“The real issue with mental health is a matter of funding. We don’t have enough beds, we don’t have enough providers, and it’s particularly acute in rural areas,” Prichard said. “Mental health is going to be a problem, until we’re able to provide that funding.”

Both Prichard and Brown reacted favorably to a suggestion of revisions to the “bottle bill,” as did many at the luncheon.

The idea of raising the 5 cent return deposit to 10 cents to help make redemption centers profitable was one both elected officials said they could get behind. Both also liked the idea of expanding the list of recyclable containers that could be returned for money.

They also seemed pleased that the discussion would end on a topic they agreed upon.

“This is the way these meetings need to be held,” said Brown. “We should all be able together and have a discussion. Maybe we won’t always have the same viewpoints, but we can be respectful of each other.”

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