Brown, Prichard hear concerns at Legislative Breakfast

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Iowa Sen. Waylon Brown (R-Osage) and Rep. Todd Prichard (D-Charles City) did a lot more listening than they did talking on Monday morning at a legislative update breakfast at Charles City’s NIACC Center.

The Floyd County Farm Bureau, the Butler County REC and the Charles City Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the event, and about 40 people attended. Although the two local legislators were questioned on a wide variety of issues, most of the time was spent discussing the plans to build carbon dioxide pipelines through Floyd County.

“How many of you are directly impacted by this proposal?” Brown asked the crowd, and more than half of those attending raised their hands.

Three companies have said they will seek a state permit to build hazardous liquid pipelines to carry captured carbon dioxide away for underground storage, and they will likely ask the Iowa Utilities Board to grant them the ability to use eminent domain to force easements with property owners who refuse to grant access voluntarily. Summit Carbon Solutions has already officially applied for a permit, with the right to use eminent domain.

Prichard said the Iowa House has passed a measure that would not allow any eminent domain hearing until next February. The Senate and governor would also need to approve it for it to take effect.

Many of those in attendance Monday were adamant that they didn’t think the private pipeline companies should be granted the authority to use eminent domain.

“Who benefits from this? No one locally,” said one Floyd County farmer. “If you follow the money, the money isn’t staying here. The money is going elsewhere.”

Both Prichard and Brown said they were in agreement with those who were against granting the authority to use eminent domain.

“Building highways is one thing,” Prichard said. “A private company tearing up someone’s land and livelihood, that’s another.”

Prichard lives in what is now District 58, and did not file for reelection. No other person filed papers seeking the Democratic nomination for Iowa House District 58, either.

Brown, who is Senate Assistant Majority Leader, has filed for re-election. After the passage of the new redistricting maps and effective with elections in 2022, Senate District 30 will include Mitchell, Worth and Cerro Gordo counties, as well as part of Floyd County.

The legislators were also questioned Monday about the possibility of passing a bottle bill, tax policy, possible changes to the local option sales tax, education funding and housing.

They were also questioned about the labor shortage in Iowa, and a new unemployment law that would cause unemployed Iowans to lose benefits 10 weeks sooner. The legislation also would require workers to take lower-paying jobs sooner or risk losing their benefits. The bill is intended to help with Iowa’s labor shortage.

Brown said that another part of the problem, beyond unemployment, is a lack of adequate child care, as well as young people leaving the state to work elsewhere. He said he’s had conversations with Gov. Reynolds regarding ways to improve and increase child care. He also said Iowa needs to do a better job of selling itself to the younger generation.

“Iowa is the only state that hasn’t doubled its population since 1900,” Brown said. “It’s one of our biggest challenges.”

He said that the state needs to offer more amenities as well as do a better job of highlighting the positive.

“We don’t have the nightlife here, but what we do have is great water trails, bike trails, and the ability to get out and enjoy nature,” Brown said. “We’ve always been the best-kept secret, as far as I’m concerned, but we can no longer keep it a secret. I think the state of Iowa is a diamond in the rough, and we need to find ways to promote our state nationwide.”

While Prichard agreed with Brown’s suggestion that Iowa could do a better job of selling itself, he was very critical of the cut to unemployment benefits, calling it “a joke” and “an insult to all working Iowans.”

“What this bill does, through some screwed-up logic, it says if we take away your unemployment benefits, we’ll get people back to work and solve our workforce shortage,” Prichard said. “It’s insane and it’s insulting. Iowa is one of the hardest-working states by metrics.”

Prichard said that Iowa leads the the nation in dual-income households and is among the highest in number of people with multiple jobs, and has one of the highest labor participation rates in the country. He said he was particularly offended by Gov. Reynolds comment that unemployment is a “hammock safety net.”

“Iowa has a work ethic like no other,” Prichard said. “This idea that we’re going to cut unemployment to give people incentive to get back into the workforce is going to hurt seasonal employees, like construction workers.”

Prichard said that Iowa needs to be a welcoming state.

“Families want to move to a state that’s going to do a good job of educating their children,” Prichard said. “We need better child care, better recreational opportunities and more respect for our workers.”