‘We have to work together’

Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, a Democrat from Windsor Heights, hosted a legislative coffee, attended mostly by Democrats, Sunday noon at The Gathering Place.

The meeting was designed to brew unity among Democrats even though Iowa is largely represented by Republicans, who currently have control of the House of Representatives, Senate and the Governor.

Konfrst reminded the crowd that in the state legislature, certain things can flip on a dime, like her district, which she ran for and lost, but ran again and won.

“My district has now been represented by the majority leader and minority leader in a span of five years,” Konfrst said, pointing out she’s been leader since 2021. She stated that getting out and listening to voters is her favorite part of the job.

“I’ve seen how the legislature works and what’s happening at the capitol. I’ve seen these last three months what happens when the chaos in Des Moines is met or challenged by the chaos in Washington. There’s just no way to separate the two anymore,” Konfrst said.

The minority leader was critical of Republican lawmakers who she says aren’t fighting back against the federal government, which has recently cut payments to farmers, for example. She also cited educational savings accounts as being hurtful to local public school districts. She said recent changes to civil rights will also hurt local communities.

“I’ve seen them take away local control every step of the way,” Konfrst said. “They’re going to tell you what you can do in your district, your city and county and not ask you what you think because they know best.”

Konfrst said she’s upset the proposed 2.5% state supplemental aid increase for public schools is less than currently inflation and that nothing has been passed on it. Schools have to make decisions now and she said lawmakers have done “nothing to agree.”

She added that she wanted protections in the ESA bill so that private schools could not increase tuition, but that wasn’t allowed.

Other items being discussed at the capitol include energy, libraries and more.

Bills Democrats have introduced include those focused on affordable childcare, affordable housing, lowering the price of prescription drugs and raising wages.

“I’ve had seven bills passed in my seven years in the legislature and not one has had my name on it,” Konfrst said. “It won’t pass with my name on it, so I run it with a Republican, take my name off of it and it passes. We care about good policy more than anything else.”

Konfrst speculated Democrats need to understand that in general, Iowans are tired of politics. She said oftentimes, bills that get passed in the state legislature have bipartisan opposition and only partisan support. She said she sees an urgency where this approach has to change. She said “poor policy” is gutting small communities.

Others asked about the potential of Medicare and Medicaid going away and the same for Social Security payments.

“What we have learned is that Iowans are sick of politics. They hate Democrats and they hate Republicans. They’re sick of all us and they’re done,” Konfrst said, adding Iowans want lower prices. “What we have to do is have our eye on the prize and all sit down at the kitchen table and talk about budget.”

One resident asked how President Donald Trump’s strong, conservative “Make America Great Again” movement can be broken down. Konfrst said that is something that will require a gradual approach.

The minority leader said it’s important to understand how voters think if Democrats want to have greater election success in the future.

Konfrst hinted strongly at running against Republican incumbent Zach Nunn for a U.S. Congress seat in the next election and also hinted at Democrat State Auditor Rob Sand running against Governor Kim Reynolds in the next election. Neither announcement has officially been made.

“We’re trying to focus on people over politics and what the people want,” Konfrst said. “I’ve also had some really hard conversations with people in small communities about how we need to work together on that. We have to work together a lot more.”