Legislators respond to local concerns

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series on Saturday’s legislative coffee meeting.

With a populated crowd looking to question their local legislators, State Senator Tom Shipley and State Representative Devon Woods gave their opinions on topics related to the Iowa Civil Rights Code, ESAs and more.

Questions to the legislators were delivered through written correspondence. The meeting on Saturday began with Creston Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ellen Gerharz, who also moderated the session by curating questions for the legislators, giving a warning against “nasty” behavior.

“If we start to take a turn to the nasty side of the world, cause everyone is very passionate about certain issues,” Gerharz said. “Please remain our civility... going forward, politeness is necessary.”

Iowa Civil Rights Code

A notable question which presented a controversial topic to the legislators asked why the pair voted in favor of a bill signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds Friday, Feb. 28 which stripped civil rights protections for transgender and nonbinary Iowans. The question noted less than 1% of Iowans identify as either transgender or nonbinary. These protections previously shielded Iowans from discrimination on the basis of gender identity in employment, education, housing and more.

Woods gave her answer through a prepared statement, noting she had expected the question for that meeting. She began by describing how every citizen of the state, and by extension the rest of the country, deserves to avoid discrimination.

“Every single Iowan deserves to have their human rights protected and be treated with dignity and respect, period,” Woods said.

However, Woods said there was one exception to protecting the civil rights of American citizens.

“They do not, and should not, put a category of people superseding the rights of another,” Woods said. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly what was happening with gender identity in the Iowa Civil Rights Code.”

The state representative went on to list given protections in recent years to women’s sports, bathrooms and locker rooms, as well as bans on gender surgeries on minors and medications to block puberty development.

Woods noted lawsuits the state has received for these bills, mentioning two which were using the gender identity protection specified by the Civil Rights Code. One focused on a challenge to a bathroom bill which restricts which bathroom a transgender student can use in schools, and another focused on Medicaid funds to be used for gender-affirming surgeries.

“In 2019, there was a ruling by the [Iowa] Supreme Court that Medicaid had to pay for, a.k.a. taxpayers had to pay for, gender-affirming surgeries,” Woods said.

Woods did not mention the Medicaid protection was only for gender-affirming surgery which were deemed medically necessary or lifesaving for a transgender person.

Shipley echoed Woods’ thoughts, giving a few anecdotes he heard from Iowans about abuse of these protections. He explained how some of these stories show an imbalance in protections from the Civil Rights Code. Shipley did not clarify the stories he told, based around men appearing in bathrooms and locker rooms, were about specifically transgender men.

“These stories are relayed to me,” Shipley said. “Other people, personal stories, that they were protected, but their daughters weren’t.”

The state senator repeated his faith in the Civil Rights Code, saying no one should be discriminated against based on their identity. He criticized how Middle Eastern individuals frequently get profiled based on their race.

Shipley expanded his discussion to a broad range of DEI topics, saying how he didn’t care what skin color a surgeon for his daughter was as long as they were the best individual for the job.

He went on to say he had spoken with his recently-retired brother who previously worked at Northern Illinois University’s School of Health Studies, who had said there were people who had “no business” being in the program. Shipley did not clarify any identity-related reasons why they had been accepted into the program besides one mention of how some members of the program were “animal-rights activists.”

“They made the cut,” Shipley said. “One kid didn’t get in because there’s only so many slots.”

ESA and operational sharing

The first question of the meeting asked the legislators if they supported the Education Savings Account program without income tax. In 2023, Iowa passed the Students First Act which allowed families to apply for a voucher in an education savings account to pay for their children’s tuitions and fees in accredited private schools.

Criticism of the law noted how these vouchers, costing recently per-student $7,826 for the 2024-25 school year, diverts taxpayer funds which could be used for public schools. Rural areas, where public schools frequently struggle with funding despite being the only option in education for many families, would be notably affected by the law. Gov. Kim Reynolds claimed the law would serve as a way to boost education in Iowa.

When asked about their support, Shipley gave a quick “no.” Woods noted she had voted for the bill in 2023 and gave her reasoning why.

“The reason why I voted yes for [the bill] was the extension for 10 years of operational sharing funding,” Woods said.

Operational sharing is when a two or more districts share a member of staff between them. This is a common practice in rural areas, both to cover staffing shortages but also from bonus funding payments given by the state to these districts for the practice. Woods said districts in the area she represents could have closed if they had missed the 10-year extension proposed by the bill.

Shipley also noted he voted for the original bill in 2023 for the same reasons Woods described.

“Any time I get an opportunity to expand [operational sharing], well, we’re going to do it,” Shipley said.

Other questions

On the topic of education, one question asked the pair of legislators if they were familiar with any legislation regarding support for early childhood instructors and childcare providers. While both Shipley and Woods said they were unfamiliar with specific examples of bills the question provided, both mentioned other examples of funding opportunities for both instructors and providers.

Shipley mentioned a subcommittee he was a part of for a bill which would expand childcare service funds to childcare businesses alongside school-sponsored services. He mentioned there were some “strings attached” for businesses looking to receive funding, but said it could be a favorable funding option.

Woods said support for businesses who partner with their local school district or healthcare services such as hospitals and clinics could be possible.

Shipley was able to continue his thoughts on eminent domain from his opening statement after a question on the topic was given. He discussed a proposal which would allow for county supervisors to dictate more control over what the state can do with their power. The state senator lamented the idea, predicting a scenario where local institutions desire more control until they need to make a decision.

“They’ll say, we want more control, until [they] have to make a call,” Shipley said. “All of a sudden, they want you to put guidelines in place. I’ve seen it happen more than once. We all want to make decisions, but not this time.”

Woods echoed Shipley’s thoughts, saying the judgement should be given on a county-by-county basis. She mentioned some scenarios, giving an example of safety standards, which would benefit from public discussion.

One question asked the legislators if there’s any upcoming bills combatting rising property taxes. Shipley mentioned a bill he’s seen which would set a constitutional amendment to raise the price of sales tax, although he was doubtful on how much traction the bill would receive. The state senator hoped raising sales tax would help alleviate rising property taxes.

Shipley went on to talk about a few products where sales tax should continue to be avoided, such as with medicine and food. The state senator also mentioned wanting to protect county supervisors from discourse around property taxes. He advised those in attendance to talk with all institutions which affect property taxes.

Alongside echoing Shipley’s statements around the length of time it would take for a bill to form, Woods warned how multiple versions of a bill tackling income tax will take a while to “come together.”

The SNAP program and recent changes were discussed by the legislators. Woods clarified errors made in previous versions of the bill which received media attention have been corrected. The state representative said guidelines in the bill have properly explanations with the latest presentation of the program.

A question asking if Iowa would create a state “DOGE” entity was given to the pair of legislators, with both saying they were unaware of any plans. Woods described a few entities in the state which already examine the state’s budget for efficiency, including a subcommittee for “federal and other funds.”