11/04/2024
Extended coverage from the October 31 Denison Free Press
State legislative candidates list priorities
By Gordon Wolf
State legislative candidates participated in the Chamber & Development Council of Crawford County forum at Cronk’s Café on Tuesday night.
State Senate District 6 candidates are Jason Schultz, incumbent, Republican from Schleswig; and David M. Davis, Libertarian from Harlan.
State Representative District 12 candidates are Steven Holt, incumbent, Republican from Denison; and Dustin Durbin, Democrat from Dow City.
The general election will take place on Tuesday, November 5.
Paul Plumb, the executive director of the Chamber & Development Council of Crawford County, served as the forum moderator.
Dustin Durbin is the volunteer coordinator at Crawford County Memorial Hospital. He is the owner and operator of the Old Fashioned in Denison. He said he thought that he could make a difference by running for the Iowa House.
“To get to know a little bit about me, I love our county, I love Iowa. I live just outside of Denison, a little town called Buck Grove,” he said. “It's just been fun getting to know everybody. Campaigning has been a great exercise; it's been great to get to meet everyone and actually get my name out there. And I've heard a lot of the issues and I'm hoping I can come through for all of you.”
Steve Holt said he is the candidate who will fight to keep biological men out of women's sports and locker rooms in Iowa, protect religious liberties, keep critical race theory out of schools and teach American exceptionalism, fight for farmers and businesses against excessive government regulation, work to reduce the tax burden and fight against illegal immigration. He said as the chair of the Judiciary Committee, he floor-managed important pieces of legislation, including, for example, fighting eminent domain for the CO2 pipelines.
David Davis was born in Bellevue, Nebraska, and graduated from Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs in 1985. After that he joined the United States Army where he served for about seven and one-half years. He then got his associate and bachelor’s degrees and went back into active duty with the Army for another 12 and one-half years. After retiring from the Army, he became a truck driver. He said he has noticed that people have a lot of concerns in Iowa and across the country, and that’s why he is running for the state senate.
Jason Schultz was first elected to the state senate in 2014. He and his wife, Amy, have two daughters. He said his work experience and civic experience have always led to leadership positions. He was in the National Guard for seven years, where he finished as a squad leader. He’s been a member and leader at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Schleswig, where he has served multiple terms as the church elder. He served 13 years on the Schleswig Volunteer Fire Department, where he was chief for two years. He worked in small packing plants. He’s mixed feed at a local cooperative. And he’s been an insurance adjuster. He said he is a blue-collar conservative.
Question: What would your top three priorities be for the next term if you were elected?
Schultz: “Number one would be to protect the tax cuts we put in place. That is the number one thing we can do to put Iowa at the top of the list of states to make this family friendly and business friendly. You do that by pushing hard on my second priority, which is holding spending in line. The only way you can have a tax cut not work is if you let spending get out of control. Tax cuts work every other time. So that would be my number two, and I've been a very vocal voice on that. But the number one thing that attracts and keeps people and businesses is a stable environment where they can make a plan, and they don't have to worry about the state changing the rules and yanking the rug out from under them.”
Davis: “My top priority would be eminent domain reform. It's a big issue in this area. A lot of people are upset about eminent domain. They're upset about the pipeline, and it's too easy for private corporations to acquire private property through eminent domain. And this pipeline wasn't the first time that people got private property through eminent domain. They're just doing what has happened in other states. My second priority would probably be term limits.”
Davis said his third priority would definitely be maintaining a balanced budget, keeping the taxes low and keeping the spending low.
Holt: “My top three priorities would be property tax reform, eminent domain reform, and keeping common sense government in Iowa. First let's talk about property tax reform. We've done a lot in Iowa for the last few years. Republicans have cut taxes massively, to the tune of over a billion dollars. We have lowered the top tax rate to 3.8%. We ended taxes on retirement income. But when I go door to door, which I do frequently every election, what do I hear from senior citizens, from those on fixed income? Thanks so much for all the tax cuts you've done but do something about property taxes because I can't stay in my home.”
Holt said the legislature has already begun to do some of that but has to do more.
On eminent domain, he said he has been a leader in the Iowa House and pushed through two pieces of legislation to try to protect Iowa landowners
“The Constitution is very clear: eminent domain can only be used for public use projects and these CO2 pipelines are not public use projects. It violates the Constitution,” he said.
His third priority is common sense government in Iowa, adding, “Common sense such as males do not belong in female sports and changing facilities. Common sense such as a nation without borders is not a nation. And that profoundly impacts Iowa.”
Durbin said his top three priorities are education, prosperity and human rights.
“When I go door-to-door knocking or when I go to different communities, education seems to be one of our biggest topics. And so we need to make sure that Iowa education goes back to number one. For prosperity, I want to make sure that our kids are coming back home to Western Iowa,” he said.
Durbin added, “We need to figure out how we can bring back jobs, manufacturing jobs, right back here to western Iowa. I'd like to see something like bringing that kind of infrastructure back here. As for human rights, we've got all kinds of different things. I did a forum up in Sioux City where we've got people with disabilities who have nothing, and we just keep cutting their funding and keep getting them to not have the things that they need.”
Question: Where do you feel the state should be investing more dollars and where should they be limiting spending and why?
Durbin: “I believe the state should be investing in education by reforming the AEA (area education agencies) back to its natural state with restructuring and accountability that our teachers had wanted so they can have their classrooms back and the students can have the education that they deserve. And I think where we need to cut our spending is from the private education. That's a student choice. I don't think we should be meddling with that. I think our public funds need to stay with our public schools.”
Holt said he doesn’t look for ways to spend more taxpayer money so he would look for other places to cut in order to do the things he was going to talk about.
“As judiciary chair I would identify a couple of areas that I think most definitely we need to spend more money on. The first would be the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. The Iowa Law Enforcement Academy is the organization in Des Moines that trains our law enforcement officers. Their facilities are not adequate, their facilities are not big enough, they're not advanced enough to be able to train the number of police officers that are required today. And so we really need to spend some money on building an entirely new facility with state-of-the-art equipment so that we can properly train our law enforcement officers.”
He added that the second issue he would like to work on is mental health but said, “no amount of money is going to replace what has happened in our families. We're suffering from a collapse of values in our country, and we need to return to the biblically based values that produce strong families, because strong families produce strong children who become strong adults. But having said that, we have a serious mental health situation on our hands.”
Davis said Libertarians don't like to increase spending all that much and definitely don't like deficit spending.
“But I look at roads, if we're going to increase, find out where the money is going on roads,” Davis said. “Iowa was ranked seventh in miles per capita out of all the states. But we're not ranked seventh in population. So we definitely have a lot of roads and we should be maintaining our roads because you know no one wants to drive on lousy roads.”
He also said mental health is another of his priorities.
“One thing I think the legislature can probably look at, and it really wouldn't cost any money, is looking at the reciprocity laws. If a doctor is licensed in Nebraska as a mental health professional, then maybe they should be able to, if they've done it for like three years instead of five, maybe they can practice here and don't have to retake all the tests that they would have to take to get licensed in Iowa.”
Schultz said he also doesn’t go looking for ways to spend money but agreed that state law enforcement is a place to spend more. He said in his first session in the state senate, the state patrol was parting out one plane to keep the other two going.
“We have, in the last seven, eight years, actually put our state patrol back on the tier. Now the reason I do that is because the fundamental purpose of government is, biblically speaking, to condone good and punish evil. Given the problems that we have coming up, I guess literally, coming up from the southern border and all of that, we need a strong law enforcement because public safety is the fundamental purpose and we had better have strong police departments in our cities, fantastic sheriff's departments in each county, and over all of that providing the resources that the counties can't handle would be a state patrol,” he said.
He also would spend more for community colleges to try to keep tuition as close as possible to the community college tuition in surrounding states.
Question: What changes, if any, would you propose to our state's election laws, particularly regarding voting access and election security?
Schultz: “I was running the bill last year. You guys (the House) passed it. We got a glitch late in the year in the Senate. We have been running election integrity bills since 2017, maybe 2018. We now have, I believe, the most sound elections in the country. There are always going to be anomalies, but we believe we've got everything done. But you keep working. You keep looking for the weak spots and you keep fixing them.”
Davis: “I would review the election laws. We're not looking to kick eligible voters off. I don't think anyone here wants to put people on who shouldn't be voting. The goal should not be to restrict the right of citizens to vote. And it should be trying to prevent non-citizens from voting. And I'd like to see how big of a problem it really is in Iowa.”
Holt: “Republicans want it to be easy to vote and hard to cheat. And that has been what we have done with our election laws over the last few years. And I agree with Sen. Schultz. Drop boxes, I'm not a fan. I love real-time voter ID. We do have voter ID in Iowa, and we have to keep it. The only reason not to have voter ID would be if someone was to cheat. We have ID to buy beer. We have ID to get ci******es. It's ridiculous that we would not have voter ID to protect this fundamental right. And so we need to keep that in place.”
Durbin: “I agree with my counterparts here. I think that we do have good election laws. I think everything is sound. The only thing that I can say, I haven't written laws or rules or anything, but I have been a previous poll worker. You're checking the ID, you're making sure that you know who they are. They pop up into the registration before you give them their ballot. Once they get the ballot, it does go into a secure box. And then once everything's closed down, we've got to do the count. And then we've got to wrap it all up and send that over to the courthouse. As for anything more on the election laws, I would actually like to see more time extended for second shift folks who are working that night shift to maybe have more Saturday voting power.”
Question: How would you improve workforce development and training programs to meet the needs for a changing economy?
Durbin: “I think that starts with education by creating more trade school programs along with internships and partnering with local employers. As from hearing from the hospital board of trustees earlier tonight, I really like that we do offer for high school students and our local Western Iowa Tech students the internship program to actually follow and learn this career path. Those are the things that I like to see, having more training programs in other fields, not just only our hospital, but just other fields across the board.”
Holt: “I am a big fan of community colleges. I think the answer to this question is community colleges interfacing with organizations like the Chamber here in Crawford County and Shelby County and Ida County, partnering with local school districts. I think these are fantastic ways of improving workforce development and meeting the needs of our communities. Also, career academies. We have a career academy being built right now at Western Iowa Tech. That's going to be fantastic. There's one in Woodbine. All of these things are helping improve workforce development because they're right where it's needed.”
Davis: “I think one thing we need to find out is what jobs need to be filled because that's the thing you know you just don't want to spend the money to get training and find out that they don't have a job, and I'm pretty sure that's not a major problem, but still, find out what jobs need to be filled, and can they get that training either through the program or through the workforce development. I'm pretty sure the workforce development is decent; they do a fairly good job, and then we've got to look at how successful they are because it's the state spending the money and your public taxes probably finance it too. You want your tax dollars to go to help and improve someone.”
Schultz: “I took this a bit more literal. I'm going to talk about the Department of Workforce Development. There is a working tension between Iowa Workforce Development and our community college world. Now, not animosity, but every time there is talk about moving a program, the decision making of a program, from one to the other, they go nuts. Everybody likes to be in control of what they can be in control of. I do think, so as your question asked, what would I do to improve? I'd like to see if we can get them to sit in a room somewhere and at some point we can do this. I'd like to see if we can get to where they see each other as equals and not that give and take of program administrator, program provider. They are working together fantastic. Community colleges are providing the training that workforce development lines people up. That's all working. And yet I just feel like it is not the warm first-name basis that I think Iowans think that their state government should be operating with.”
Question: What are your thoughts on eminent domain in association with the proposed pipeline going through Crawford County?
Schultz: “Summit started their project under Iowa law. There's not a judge who's going to let us change the rules of the game after all the money is spent. And that was a business strategy of Summit to get that money out of their hands so that a judge wouldn't allow us to change rules. Going forward, we have to remove that. And I fully support the court proceedings that are challenging the IUB ruling. I hope that a court case will come through Iowa, through the Iowa Supreme Court who says that no, private companies don't have eminent domain capabilities, or at least not access to eminent domain. And I hope this challenge goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and overturns New London versus Kelo, which is what put us in this ugly spot. So eminent domain for public use, not for profit.”
Davis: “I do not support eminent domain for private gain. And this is more than just a carbon pipeline explosion that people have to worry about. I mean, there's also access to groundwater, the aquifers. And these carbon pipelines are going to use a lot of water to make the pipeline work. And it's just wrong for a private company to come and use eminent domain. The Constitution, we were taught as kids, was that eminent domain was to build a new school, or they need to build a military base, or a fire station, or a police station. I'm not a big fan of eminent domain for private companies.”
Holt: “I've fought it for the last three years. I've done everything I could do to stop the use of eminent domain for this pipeline. It's unconstitutional. There's a lot of people in Des Moines that are not happy with people like Jason and I who joined the lawsuit; 30 of us did, suing the Iowa Utilities Commission. It's just a no-brainer for me. The Iowa Constitution says public use, and public use is highways, public use is military bases, and oil pipelines, things essential for human survival. Pumping CO2 into the ground somewhere is not essential for human survival. It's a private economic development project. It doesn't meet the Constitution requirement for public use. It doesn't meet statutory requirements for convenient and necessary. And one of the things that nobody's talked a lot about, we're in a severe drought in Iowa. The CO2 pipelines are going to use billions of gallons of water. Where's that coming from? Don't we need to do a study on that issue before this thing is granted? One of the good things that has happened in the last few weeks is that the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that Summit is not a common carrier, meaning they don't fit the definition of public use in South Dakota. Someone asked the South Dakota Supreme Court to reconsider, and they refused, which means that at least at this point, nobody sees how Summit is going to be able to use eminent domain in South Dakota, which means it's going to be very hard to build this pipeline. And in Iowa, at least the Iowa Utilities Commission's ruling was they can't begin construction until they are approved in every other state.”
Durbin: “I totally agree that eminent domain is not for Iowa. Being the new kid, I really can't back up any more of what you guys have already said, so I think they've said it all for all of us.”
Question: How do you feel about the role of school choice programs such as vouchers or charter schools in the state's educational system?
Schultz: “I am a fan of our school choice and I'd like to point out first, so Steve (Holt) doesn't have to do it, they're not vouchers, they're educational savings accounts. The reason that that is really important is that political opponents have tried to make it a voucher program, which goes against Iowa law and constitution. I mean that would be overturned in court. The educational savings accounts are legal and effective and they're just darn good. Why would you hold somebody back who needs help from getting the help where they can find it?”
Davis: “I support school choice and charter schools. You know, I think the money should follow the student. But I also think there should probably be some oversight now. It is taxpayer dollars. We should make sure that the money is actually going to the school where the parents say it's going to, right? And it's also that they're actually giving an education. Because the goal of school choice and charter schools is to improve the education of the students, not that they come out less educated.”
Holt: “My wife's a public school teacher. All of my kids went to public school. My son graduated, has his master's degree in chemistry, teaches out in California. I love educational savings accounts. We're funding students, not institutions. We're funding the best educational setting for the student, and that should be the priority, shouldn't it? Giving parents that option, giving parents that choice, funding that child in a place where they can thrive and get the best education. And it's simply not true that ESAs are hurting public school funding. For fiscal year 2025, the budget in Iowa was $8.9 billion. State aid to K-12 schools was 43.62% of the budget. State universities, 6.54% of the budget. Community colleges, 2.65% of the budget, and I do want to see that be higher sometime. ESAs, 2.01% of the budget. So the total education as a percentage of our budget is 54.82%. We have made education a high priority in Iowa.”
Durbin: “As for me, the school choice program, I'm totally against this. I think it is wrong. I think that our education system deserves so much better. For the tuition these schools get to charge and the students trying to pick out these schools, those private schools and those charter schools have the right to pick and choose the students that they want, leaving the low-income students with special needs or special education plans that they have to have, are left in the dust. We can do better than this. These are our kids right here in our own community. They're our neighbors, they're our families. And we're just leaving them behind. And I would like to build something for them, not against them. It would be nice to see a bigger private school here in Denison. But for me, there's no money that belongs in private hands. It's our tax money and I'm sorry, I'm just against taxes going towards a private school.”
Question: What is your stance on illegal immigration in Iowa? Is there a problem and if so, what are possible solutions?
Durbin: “For me, this one gets a little close to home. I had a friend that I had to actually help do this. Yes, there is a immigration problem, but the hoops and the roadblocks that our government has in place on how to actually become a citizen, it's a lot of work. You have to start with having a computer. If you don't have a computer, you have to go to the library, log in, and if you speak a different language, it's unfortunate. Sometimes librarians don't speak different languages. So you go there, you register on the INS website, and you have to wait 3-5 business days to get a phone call. Now, before anything gets communicated to you, then it leads up to anywhere from years to thousands of dollars, and I think we can do better in that area as well.”
Holt: “I actually agree with you 100% on that. My wife taught citizenship classes. It's ridiculous how expensive it is to become a citizen. It's wrong and it needs to be reformed. That is absolutely the case. But in answer to the question, illegal immigration is a huge problem in Iowa. It's a huge problem in every state in our country and we know that many people are crossing our border. They just want a better life. They come here to escape the problems in their own country. They want to live the American dream. And many of them become productive citizens. We know that. But we also know there are gang members. We also know there are criminals. We also know there are terrorists crossing our borders. We know that there are gang members that are seizing apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado. We know that right here in Iowa, because I see the statistics. Fentanyl is killing our children right here in Iowa that's coming across the border that probably came from China. S*x and labor trafficking right here in Iowa. S*x and labor trafficking as a result of the out-of-control southern border. It has never been this bad. It is beyond belief. The damage this is doing to our country and to the state of Iowa. I floor managed a bill this past session to empower Iowa law enforcement to arrest those in Iowa illegally who had been previously deported. So in other words, the federal government gets the first crack at it. If they're here again, having been previously deported, Iowa law enforcement was empowered to arrest them, take them to our port of entry, which is the Des Moines International Airport, and get them out of here back to their country.”
Davis: “It's probably a problem, but in order to find out how big the problem is, if there's a problem, we need accurate numbers. I mean, it's easy on social media; 25 million a year is being thrown out. Others say, no, it's 10 million, 12 million total. You know, no one's probably right on that. We need to find out the accurate numbers, but the federal government can probably do more. As a Libertarian, I support the Ellis Island 2.0 situation. You come in, you get a background check for a criminal record. If you have a criminal record, you can't come in. And you get checked for communicable diseases. And if you don't have a criminal record, if you don't have a disease, you get a work visa. You don't qualify for welfare. You're a resident. You're not a citizen, so you can't vote.”
Schultz: “Yes, it's a problem. It affects our families, our communities, our schools, our county law enforcement, state law enforcement, city law enforcement. Yes, this is a catastrophe. This is not an organic problem that just popped up because somebody in Mexico, Central America, a South American village suddenly said, I'm up and moving. They were picked up, they've been moved, they've been supported with other people's money, they've been guided, they have been helped across the border. Once they got here, they get off the truck that hauled them across the border and they get on U.S. tax dollar transportation. They're flown all over the country. They're bussed all over the country. It's got to be stopped. And if this next presidential election goes the wrong way, I don't know that it could be reversed if we went after that.”
