Feenstra makes Wednesday stops in Charles City

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra made two stops in Charles City on Wednesday, a part of his 39-county tour across Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.

The first-term congressman made stops at Otto’s Oasis and at The Pub on the Cedar in Charles City, and among many others things he discussed the impact the pandemic has had on small businesses as well as ways to revitalize the local economy.

He said he was excited to be in Charles City, which sometimes can get neglected as it is at the far eastern fringe of the congressional district. The district covers much of the northwestern quadrant of the state, including Sioux City, Ames and Mason City.

“There’s so many great things going on in Charles City,” Feenstra said. “We’re going to main street retailers and seeing what we can do to help them, and give them a voice.”

Feenstra, age 52, highlighted the work Congress is doing to bring the country back and emphasized work done at the federal level to get more vaccines to the state and local levels. He said he believes Iowa is ahead of the curve in beating the coronavirus.

“When things happen in Iowa — whether it be COVID, or flooding or whatever — we all get together and help each other out, and that’s what makes small town Iowa great,” Feenstra said. “We celebrate our achievements together and work together when we have outcomes that aren’t beneficial to our main streets.”

A Republican from Hull, Feenstra defeated incumbent Steve King in the primary election for the Republican nomination last spring. He defeated Democratic nominee J. D. Scholten in the general election by more than 25 percentage points in November.

He served as an Iowa state senator for the 2nd district from 2009 to 2021 and previously was the Sioux County treasurer from 2006 to 2008.

“We are all in government together,” Feenstra said. “Everyone who pays taxes — property tax, sales tax, income tax — needs a voice, and I want to be that voice, I want to be that representation in Congress.”

Feenstra said he learned a lot from his conversation with Jeff and Lori Otto, owners of Otto’s Oasis.

“This is where the rubber hits the road, when it comes to a landscaping business and a floral business like Otto’s Oasis,” Feenstra said. “It’s a different kind of agriculture than corn and soybeans, but it’s just as important.”

He said he wanted to know from the Ottos if there were any issue he could help with as a member of the House Agriculture Committee.

“We have vibrant small communities in the Fourth District, and everybody’s looking for workers,” Feenstra said. “Unemployment giving out $300 per week — we don’t need that in Iowa, because we have such a demand for workers here.”

He said the added unemployment benefits given to workers throughout the COVID pandemic resulted in taking away the incentive to work, which accentuated the larger problem of not having enough workers in the state.

Feenstra also serves on the House Budget Committee, and talked about the infrastructure bill recently proposed by President Joe Biden, which is sure to receive much discussion in the coming months. He said he would like the bill to focus on roads and bridges and especially on broadband, which he called essential to small town Iowa.

“In Iowa here, we know what we need, and how to help our communities here, and that is true infrastructure — roads and bridges and broadband,” Feenstra said. “That’s what I’ll be advocating for.”

He said he hopes he can help put the focus of the bill back on those priorities.

“We’ve got to have some heart-to-heart talks,” Feenstra said. “Only 6% of the current infrastructure plan goes to roads, bridges and broadband.”

Reporting by The Associated Press says that 30% to 40% of the $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, to be implemented over eight years, is for items that would traditionally be considered infrastructure.

Overall, about $621 billion of the proposed bill goes to transportation infrastructure, and $650 billion goes to quality of life improvements, which includes broadband access for all homes and businesses. That amounts to over 50% of the proposed package.

While serving in the Iowa Senate, Feenstra worked for ISB Insurance in Hull, operated by Iowa State Bank. In 2017, he joined the faculty of Dordt University, after having taught there in an adjunct capacity since 2011. Feenstra married his wife Lynette in 1996. The couple has four children.

He attended high school at Western Christian, received a bachelor’s degree from Dordt College, and his MPA from Iowa State University.