Nordman, Green claim a Republican mandate from voters in 2024 election
~by Victoria Riley, GreeneCountyNewsOnline
Voters in Iowa gave Republicans a mandate to govern and can expect to see the Republican agenda pursued aggressively.
That was the message at the first “Meet Your Legislator” hosted by the Thomas Jefferson Gardens board Feb. 1 at the Welcome Center in Jefferson. Chuck Offenburger served as moderator, with persons posing their own questions. In previous years, attendees wrote their questions on cards and questions were then selected and asked by the moderator. (Pictured are Rep Carter Nordman, left, and Sen Jesse Green, right.)
Republican Representative Carter Nordman, 26, is starting his fifth year representing House District 47. He noted the super majorities in both chambers, saying, “I firmly believe that Iowans gave us a mandate to govern. They have endorsed what we’ve done over the last few years and they want us to continue to do the things we promise and say we’re going to do on the campaign trail,” Nordman said in his opening statement.
This session Nordman is chair of the House health and human services committee and serves on the commerce, ways and means, judiciary, and environmental protection committees.
He said in his introduction that people like to talk about “bad things,” but he wanted to tout good things about Iowa. According to Nordman, Iowa ranks #1 for retirement, Millennial home ownership, and fiscal responsibility for three consecutive years; #2 in the nation for cost of living; #3 for opportunity; #4 for healthcare and education choice; and #6 best state overall. “These rankings aren’t disputed by Republicans or Democrats. There are both blue and red states on these rankings, and they really dive into the data and that’s how they rank them.” Nordman did not say who “they” are.
Republican Senator Jesse Green is also in his fifth year representing Senate District 24. He is on both the ways and means committee and the appropriations committee, which he said gives him “a closer view and a closer say as to what’s happening on those budgets. Usually a senator gets one or the other, but not both.”
He chairs the Senate sub appropriations committee, which appropriates more than $1 billion, he said, a little more than 10 percent of the state budget. That committee does not deal with K-12 state supplemental aid, but with appropriations to colleges and Regents universities. He named teacher loan repayment programs as a top priority on that committee, providing loan repayment programs for teachers in rural Iowa districts.
He also serves on the judiciary, state government, agriculture, and international relations committees.
“We have so much to be proud of in Iowa and a lot of good things happening, but at the same time I’d like to recognize some of the things I feel we can work on, like that our cancer rates are alarming. Those rates impact Republicans and Democrats equally. It’s impacted all of us,” he said.
He mentioned alcohol consumption and nitrates as two things to work on regarding cancer rates, and said the ag committee can work on nitrate use.
Offenburger then opened the floor for questions.
The idea of a mandate was questioned by a self-identified Democrat. She said she has voted for Republicans, and that compassion is part of her voting. “I like people to be treated well, and with respect” she said.
She said Nordman’s comment about a mandate scares her. “You won the election. More people voted Republican than they did Democrat. I get that. When you say ‘mandate,’ it scares me. I feel a little unrepresented. I don’t think my views are whacky and out of line with living a good life, but I feel frustrated that I’m not being heard.”
She asked who they talk to before voting on issues, using school legislation as an example, asking if they talk with teachers and administrators. “How do you form your opinion?” she asked.
Nordman answered the vast majority of Democrats in the Iowa House would say they enjoy working with him. He said he listens to both sides of an issue, and that the legislative process ensures every bill filed isn’t enacted into law. He said he has talked with school superintendents many times about bills regarding public education.
The questioner again referred to school choice legislation. “We passed school choice and we were told that every single person in Iowa was against school choice. And then we have an election and we come back with two super majorities,” Nordman said. “And so, when I say we have a mandate, that mandate isn’t just about what we’re going to do, but it’s also about what we’ve done, and us governing and the policies we’ve passed. Republicans or Iowans have said, ‘We approve of what you’ve done so far. We’re giving you another two years to govern.’”
Green said regarding school choice, that was the biggest reason he first ran for office. He used the hands-free legislation now being considered as an example of listening to experts and constituents. He said he was opposed to it at first, but has turned 180 degrees and now supports it.
“There are certain core principles that guide me, and it’s reflected in the Republican platform. When I look at an election and I see a super majority for Republicans in the state, I look at it as a barometer. Obviously the state thinks we’re going in the right direction; it’s affirming that,” Green said.
An early question was about a moratorium on confined animal feeding operations and enactment of the Clean Water Bill introduced last year as HF 2354 as a way to decrease nitrates and eventually cancer rates.
Green said the master matrix used to permit new CAFOs is “solid,” and “a good framework.” He noted that the master matrix takes the legislature out of permitting CAFOs.
He said IWILL (Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy fund, which would be funded by a three-eighths of a cent sales tax increase with a five-eighths of a cent going to the state should the state sales tax increase) could “be a solution to two big problems in Iowa, property tax and water quality,” by both decreasing nitrate levels in water and allowing for further property tax cuts.
IWILL was a constitutional amendment in 2020 that will not be enacted unless the sales tax is increased.
Nordman said Gov Reynolds wants to appropriate $1 million to the University of Iowa to research the root causes of cancer in Iowa. He added that although Iowa is second in the nation in new cancer diagnoses, it is in “the middle of the pack” in cancer mortality.
A follow-up question was whether the sales tax will be raised to put IWILL into play.
Nordman said he has no interest in increasing a tax unless another tax is lowered, but referenced other water quality initiatives that have been implemented, dating back to 2013. He said Iowa will use $100 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for water infrastructure. He named sources and projects totaling close to $500 million.
A question was asked about the rationale of HF 88 regarding home schooling. It would allow someone to charge tuition to homeschool up to four children not related to the teacher. Another part of the bill eliminates a requirement to teach social studies and science to homeschooled elementary-aged children.
Nordman said he hasn’t yet seen the bill. Green also said he hasn’t seen it, but said he is fully supportive of homeschool parents forming a co-op and hiring someone to teach their children. Green was unconcerned by having unlicensed teachers being paid to teach. “If I have kids and I want to pay someone I trust to teach my kids, I should not have a heavy-handed government telling me that I can’t,” he said.
Another question followed about using Education Savings Accounts or vouchers to pay for homeschooling. Green said homeschool families can use up to a $500 income tax credit to pay for homeschool materials, but many families who homeschool don’t have a large income tax liability. Green said there’s an effort to allow homeschool families to use education savings account. “I don’t support that. It won’t gain any traction,” he said.
To a question about mental health services, Nordman answered the biggest challenge is the work force. He said not all money allocated for mental health programs was used last year because programs are not able to find staff. In talking about a lack of facilities for crisis mental healthcare, Nordman answered, “you can’t have facilities if you don’t have people to work at them.”
SF 92, a bill written by Greene County attorney Thomas Laehn at Green’s request, was mentioned late in the forum. The bill would prevent the use of eminent domain to acquire land for carbon dioxide pipelines. The bill is specific to CO2 pipelines, not gas or oil pipelines. Green said he thinks the outcome of Summit Carbon Solution’s Phase 1 project, which has been in process for three years already, will be decided by the Supreme Court. He is hopeful the bill will be enacted and will preclude construction of Phase 2.
An attorney asked Nordman about HF125 that deals with transfer on death deeds for real estate transfers. Nordman said the Habitat for Humanity, Iowa Farm Bureau and other groups have asked for the legislation, but that many attorneys oppose it. He said 30 other states have transfer on death deeds for real estate.
Other questions included regionalization of veterans service officers; judicial retention votes; and online gambling. The next “Meet Your Legislator” forum will be Saturday, March 1, at 10:30 am at the Welcome Center at Thomas Jefferson Gardens.
