Three of the top political reporters in Iowa are back with a lot more to discuss this week. First off a grateful Dave thanks pinch-hitter Erin for sharing his office space in Des Moines and then we’re off to the races. Topics this week include; The impact of Trump’s tariffs, especially on the state of Iowa; Each of our panelists attended the legislative leadership avails (minus Governor Reynolds) on Thursday and give their top lines; A possible end to the bill that would have made it harder to sue producers of glyphosate (Roundup) for possible cancer links; Where do we stand with the carbon pipeline/eminent domain issue in the statehouse including large energy companies possibly entering the fray; Have a good weekend!
Here’s the transcript if you’d like to read the conversation:
Dave Price (00:00:01):
Hi, everybody, and welcome to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast.
Dave Price (00:00:06):
This is a production of the Iowa Riders Collaborative,
Dave Price (00:00:10):
our misfit group of about 80 different columnists from all over the place,
Dave Price (00:00:14):
for the most part,
Dave Price (00:00:15):
talking about all things Iowa,
Dave Price (00:00:18):
or at least how things relate to what's going on in our state.
Dave Price (00:00:22):
Let's bring our contributors in.
Dave Price (00:00:25):
Laura Bellin, our regular from the Bleeding Heartland.
Dave Price (00:00:27):
Hello to you.
Laura Belin (00:00:28):
Good to see you, Dave.
Dave Price (00:00:30):
And we have a pinch hitter batting second.
Dave Price (00:00:32):
He's a righty, still looking to bust his way into the majors.
Dave Price (00:00:38):
Aaron Murphy, the Des Moines Bureau Chief for the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Erin Murphy (00:00:42):
What's going on?
Erin Murphy (00:00:44):
Proud to describe myself as the ever sought light hitting first baseman.
Erin Murphy (00:00:49):
Good to be here, Dave.
Dave Price (00:00:51):
Are we allowed to discuss that we occasionally share an office,
Dave Price (00:00:55):
your company and my company,
Dave Price (00:00:56):
only because of your generosity?
Dave Price (00:00:59):
Is that something we're allowed to say publicly?
Erin Murphy (00:01:01):
We probably should because if we hear a sneeze in the background while I'm
Erin Murphy (00:01:05):
recording here,
Erin Murphy (00:01:05):
it's your co-worker,
Erin Murphy (00:01:06):
Connor.
(00:01:07):
So
Dave Price (00:01:09):
Yes,
Dave Price (00:01:09):
who is like six inches away from you because that's how the space works out in that office.
Dave Price (00:01:14):
So let me publicly express my gratitude to Aaron Murphy,
Dave Price (00:01:18):
who has tolerated our TV duo from just completely intruding on his business
Dave Price (00:01:27):
personal space there.
Dave Price (00:01:29):
He has wedged himself into this tiny corner.
Dave Price (00:01:32):
Yeah, I'm sorry, Dave.
Dave Price (00:01:33):
Watching on video, everything you see, that's all Aaron has right there.
Erin Murphy (00:01:37):
Yeah,
Erin Murphy (00:01:37):
Connor's actually waving at me right now asking if I can just kind of scoot back a
Dave Price (00:01:41):
little bit.
Dave Price (00:01:42):
My television colleague, Connor Hendricks, in the room with him.
Dave Price (00:01:46):
So this will be my public gratitude to Aaron,
Dave Price (00:01:50):
who has graciously allowed us to infringe on his base.
Laura Belin (00:01:53):
So thanks for jumping in with us.
Laura Belin (00:01:55):
I want to express my gratitude that Aaron,
Laura Belin (00:01:57):
who also is the president of the Iowa Capitol Press Association,
Laura Belin (00:02:01):
was able to get us a media availability with the Iowa Senate president,
Laura Belin (00:02:04):
Amy Sinclair,
Laura Belin (00:02:05):
yesterday,
Laura Belin (00:02:06):
which had not been announced or scheduled,
Laura Belin (00:02:08):
but he was the squeaky wheel who got the grease.
Erin Murphy (00:02:12):
And that was nice.
Erin Murphy (00:02:13):
It was, it was, I appreciate that, Lauren.
Erin Murphy (00:02:15):
It was nice to have,
Erin Murphy (00:02:17):
especially at that funnel deadline,
Erin Murphy (00:02:19):
which we may talk about here in a little bit.
Erin Murphy (00:02:20):
It was nice to have the perspectives of all four leadership caucuses that day.
Erin Murphy (00:02:25):
So it was, it was good to get Senator Sinclair out there with us.
Dave Price (00:02:29):
Yep.
Dave Price (00:02:29):
Yep.
Dave Price (00:02:32):
I don't know how to begin this discussion without,
Dave Price (00:02:37):
I know we're very Iowa focused,
Dave Price (00:02:39):
but how do we not talk about tariffs?
Dave Price (00:02:42):
I think almost outside of talking to my son and daughter today,
Dave Price (00:02:47):
I don't know that I've spoken to anyone today where anybody
Dave Price (00:02:51):
Tariffs have not come up other than the insurance person talking about trying to fix my car.
Dave Price (00:02:56):
But other than that, I mean, it's in every way.
Dave Price (00:02:59):
And I was just looking at the headline that down another six percent on Friday.
Dave Price (00:03:05):
So it's some kind of six trillion dollar.
Dave Price (00:03:09):
overall wealth loss over the last two days.
Dave Price (00:03:13):
Aaron, since you're our guest star here, what do you make all of this?
Dave Price (00:03:18):
And as a reporter,
Dave Price (00:03:19):
what's going through your head about how you need to look at the coverage of this?
Erin Murphy (00:03:24):
Yeah,
Erin Murphy (00:03:24):
well,
Erin Murphy (00:03:25):
I mean,
Erin Murphy (00:03:25):
like anything,
Erin Murphy (00:03:26):
and as you alluded to,
Erin Murphy (00:03:29):
my job is to cover Iowa,
Erin Murphy (00:03:31):
so you're always thinking of it through the prism of,
Erin Murphy (00:03:33):
okay,
Erin Murphy (00:03:34):
how does this impact Iowans?
Erin Murphy (00:03:35):
And in a lot of ways,
Erin Murphy (00:03:36):
stuff like this impacts Iowans the same way it does everybody else in the country,
Erin Murphy (00:03:41):
but there are ways you can look at it differently,
Erin Murphy (00:03:43):
and in the spirit of continual cross-promotion here,
Erin Murphy (00:03:47):
Dave,
Erin Murphy (00:03:48):
you and I chatted with some folks earlier this morning for the Iowa Press episode
Erin Murphy (00:03:53):
that we'll
Erin Murphy (00:03:54):
air over the weekend and we talked about a little bit about how that could impact
Erin Murphy (00:03:58):
the ag economy here and an agricultural economy in the state that was already sort
Erin Murphy (00:04:04):
of wobbly in the knees even before all this and and uh what kind of impact that
Erin Murphy (00:04:10):
could have and all the ancillary impacts that has beyond farmers out to
Erin Murphy (00:04:14):
manufacturers and and and the like and so
Erin Murphy (00:04:18):
Yeah, you just I selfishly, I have not logged into my 401k account in the last day or two.
Erin Murphy (00:04:28):
I'm putting that off.
Erin Murphy (00:04:30):
Yeah.
Erin Murphy (00:04:32):
But yeah,
Erin Murphy (00:04:33):
you know,
Erin Murphy (00:04:33):
you know,
Erin Murphy (00:04:33):
for the job,
Erin Murphy (00:04:34):
you look for the ways that,
Erin Murphy (00:04:35):
you know,
Erin Murphy (00:04:37):
you talk to Iowans about how could this impact them and the people around them and
Erin Murphy (00:04:42):
the industries around them.
Dave Price (00:04:44):
Laura, do you how do you how do you look at what you should focus on?
Laura Belin (00:04:47):
Well,
Laura Belin (00:04:48):
Dan Piller,
Laura Belin (00:04:48):
who's a longtime business reporter,
Laura Belin (00:04:51):
former ag reporter for the Des Moines Register,
Laura Belin (00:04:53):
now retired,
Laura Belin (00:04:54):
he just wrote something for Bleeding Heartland that I'm about to publish here
Laura Belin (00:04:58):
shortly after this about the impact of the tariffs.
Laura Belin (00:05:00):
And I think that this is going to affect a lot more people than the first Trump
Laura Belin (00:05:05):
administration tariffs.
Laura Belin (00:05:06):
They did adversely affect ag.
Laura Belin (00:05:08):
There was a big bailout of farmers.
Laura Belin (00:05:11):
But I don't think the average American was aware of what's going on.
Laura Belin (00:05:15):
But these are so much more extensive than what the tariffs that were done at that time.
Laura Belin (00:05:20):
And even at that time,
Laura Belin (00:05:21):
I mean,
Laura Belin (00:05:21):
the farmers,
Laura Belin (00:05:22):
they had the short-term help from the federal government,
Laura Belin (00:05:24):
but there was a long-term loss in export markets.
Laura Belin (00:05:26):
And that's one thing that Dan has focused on,
Laura Belin (00:05:29):
that it's not going to necessarily be so easy to recover that.
Laura Belin (00:05:32):
But also...
Laura Belin (00:05:34):
Well,
Laura Belin (00:05:34):
a certain small percentage of Iowans work directly in farming and a slightly larger
Laura Belin (00:05:39):
percentage work in some ag related position.
Laura Belin (00:05:42):
I mean,
Laura Belin (00:05:43):
100 percent of people are going to be paying more for clothes,
Laura Belin (00:05:46):
shoes,
Laura Belin (00:05:47):
basic household goods.
Laura Belin (00:05:48):
So I think this will be something food.
Laura Belin (00:05:51):
Yeah, absolutely.
Laura Belin (00:05:51):
People are going to be talking about this a lot more than we've ever heard before.
Dave Price (00:05:56):
Yeah, I'm so curious if how much people can stomach with this.
Dave Price (00:06:02):
You know,
Dave Price (00:06:02):
you have the really kind of diehard Trump supporters who say,
Dave Price (00:06:07):
all right,
Dave Price (00:06:07):
we got a guy who's sticking up for us.
Dave Price (00:06:09):
We've been screwed on these deals.
Dave Price (00:06:11):
I remember when we used to make this in our town.
Dave Price (00:06:14):
Grandpa used to do it.
Dave Price (00:06:15):
Now that's gone.
Dave Price (00:06:16):
And, you know, all of this stuff that you're mad and upset about.
Dave Price (00:06:20):
And we're hearing the talk even from Republicans who have backed Trump about
Dave Price (00:06:26):
including the Secretary of Agriculture,
Dave Price (00:06:28):
Brooke Rollins,
Dave Price (00:06:29):
when she was here this past week,
Dave Price (00:06:30):
that,
Dave Price (00:06:31):
all right,
Dave Price (00:06:31):
there might be a bump.
Dave Price (00:06:32):
And, you know, she phrased it weeks, maybe months, you know, whatever.
Dave Price (00:06:35):
But you have other folks who are saying, hey, this is going to be way longer than that.
Dave Price (00:06:39):
But I'm so curious how long people can handle this.
Dave Price (00:06:42):
You joked, Aaron, about not looking at your 401k.
Dave Price (00:06:45):
But like, while we don't feel young, we know that, you know, realistically, we are years from
Dave Price (00:06:52):
retirement and hope that we can make all this back up and more.
Dave Price (00:06:55):
Right.
Dave Price (00:06:55):
But if you're on the other side of this, you're going, Oh my gosh, like, you know, I'm 75.
Dave Price (00:07:01):
How the heck am I going to recover from this?
Dave Price (00:07:03):
This could take years and years.
Dave Price (00:07:04):
Like, I just wonder how patient people can really be with us.
Laura Belin (00:07:08):
Well,
Laura Belin (00:07:09):
and I saw an analysis from,
Laura Belin (00:07:10):
I think it was Morgan Stanley,
Laura Belin (00:07:12):
that the markets would be down more if everybody were convinced that this is going
Laura Belin (00:07:17):
to be permanent.
Laura Belin (00:07:18):
I mean, a lot of people think that Trump is going to backtrack when he sees what the impact is.
Laura Belin (00:07:23):
And so that's why things aren't down more than they are.
Laura Belin (00:07:27):
And even with that, as you said, things are quite substantially down.
Laura Belin (00:07:31):
I mean, yes, people like the idea of building things in the United States, but
Laura Belin (00:07:35):
It's not like corporations can immediately pivot and open a factory here.
Laura Belin (00:07:39):
That would take years.
Laura Belin (00:07:40):
And in many industries,
Laura Belin (00:07:41):
it's just not realistic that some of these products are going to be manufactured in
Laura Belin (00:07:47):
the U.S.
Dave Price (00:07:48):
And I'm not smart enough to talk about trade deals,
Dave Price (00:07:50):
but I do know that none of the people in my circle want to work for what people
Dave Price (00:07:58):
make in some of these countries where some of these products have shifted over the decades.
Dave Price (00:08:04):
Do you know anybody who's willing to work for the equivalent of like two, three bucks an hour?
Dave Price (00:08:08):
I don't think so.
Dave Price (00:08:09):
I mean, there's a fundamental reason beyond...
Dave Price (00:08:13):
tariffs and everything else that some of this stuff is is created elsewhere,
Dave Price (00:08:17):
because it's a lot cheaper to do that.
Dave Price (00:08:19):
So it's hard to fathom how this is all of a sudden going to come back here.
Dave Price (00:08:23):
We're going to make a bunch of stuff unless we're going to pay way more for this stuff.
Laura Belin (00:08:27):
Well, and the infrastructure isn't there.
Laura Belin (00:08:29):
I was just watching part of the congressional debate,
Laura Belin (00:08:32):
and Senator Susan Collins of Maine was up there talking about how some huge
Laura Belin (00:08:37):
percentage of Maine blueberries are processed on Prince Edward Island.
Laura Belin (00:08:41):
I mean, the U.S.
Laura Belin (00:08:42):
and Canadian economies have been so integrated,
Laura Belin (00:08:45):
and she said a very large percentage of Maine lobster is processed there.
Laura Belin (00:08:49):
I mean, we just don't have the infrastructure for all these Maine blueberries to be packaged
Laura Belin (00:08:54):
in the United States.
Laura Belin (00:08:55):
So if you slap a 25% tariff on when it crosses the border,
Laura Belin (00:08:59):
I mean,
Laura Belin (00:09:00):
that just think about how many people are buying fresher frozen blueberries.
Dave Price (00:09:04):
Exactly.
Dave Price (00:09:04):
All right.
Dave Price (00:09:05):
So I know we're supposed to focus primarily on the Iowa legislature,
Dave Price (00:09:09):
but I feel like there's no way you can not do that as we hourglass this way down.
Dave Price (00:09:13):
All right.
Dave Price (00:09:14):
So all three of us were there at the state house this week.
Dave Price (00:09:16):
We were part of these series of legislative leader avails on Thursday.
Dave Price (00:09:23):
And Laura,
Dave Price (00:09:23):
as you mentioned,
Dave Price (00:09:24):
thanks to Aaron's work,
Dave Price (00:09:26):
the president of the Senate,
Dave Price (00:09:27):
Amy Sinclair,
Dave Price (00:09:28):
did one as well.
Dave Price (00:09:29):
which is especially welcome.
Dave Price (00:09:31):
We did not talk to the governor again this week,
Dave Price (00:09:33):
but we got the legislative leaders and you are here.
Dave Price (00:09:38):
It's interesting to almost parse the words of all of these leaders about what,
Dave Price (00:09:43):
if anything,
Dave Price (00:09:43):
should happen.
Dave Price (00:09:45):
And from the Democratic side,
Dave Price (00:09:47):
the minority side,
Dave Price (00:09:48):
they're saying,
Dave Price (00:09:48):
hey,
Dave Price (00:09:48):
at least extend unemployment benefits.
Dave Price (00:09:50):
You got to do something because there's going to be some longer term pain here.
Dave Price (00:09:54):
And I'm going to really summarize because they said a lot more than that.
Dave Price (00:09:58):
Pat Grassley, the House Speaker, said, you know, we need better deals for farmers.
Dave Price (00:10:02):
But then,
Dave Price (00:10:02):
you know,
Dave Price (00:10:03):
talk some more about,
Dave Price (00:10:06):
you know,
Dave Price (00:10:06):
potentially,
Dave Price (00:10:07):
you know,
Dave Price (00:10:08):
there could be some some economic harm from this.
Dave Price (00:10:10):
I thought Amy Sinclair was a little.
Dave Price (00:10:14):
Maybe less supportive of this tariff decision.
Dave Price (00:10:17):
Of course,
Dave Price (00:10:19):
those of us who covered the caucus remember she was a DeSantis fan and not a Trump
Dave Price (00:10:22):
fan before the January caucuses last year.
Dave Price (00:10:25):
But she now again, she's not calling for any action from the Republican legislature.
Dave Price (00:10:30):
But I also didn't feel like she was standing up there defending what's happening.
Erin Murphy (00:10:36):
I think that's a fair description.
Erin Murphy (00:10:38):
And as I sit here,
Erin Murphy (00:10:39):
I can't remember exactly what she said,
Erin Murphy (00:10:43):
if you guys have better memories than me filling in any blanks.
Erin Murphy (00:10:48):
But I do recall walking away from that with a similar feeling that Speaker Grassley
Erin Murphy (00:10:55):
did the more classical,
Erin Murphy (00:10:57):
you know,
Erin Murphy (00:10:58):
supporting the strategy sort of speech while acknowledging that,
Erin Murphy (00:11:04):
you know,
Erin Murphy (00:11:05):
the potential for disruption there,
Erin Murphy (00:11:08):
but ultimately making the argument that the Trump administration strategy is a good thing.
Erin Murphy (00:11:15):
Whereas I didn't feel that Senator Sinclair's was as full throated in that way.
Laura Belin (00:11:21):
I felt Senator Sinclair,
Laura Belin (00:11:23):
I mean,
Laura Belin (00:11:23):
she started out by making really clear this is Trump's decision.
Laura Belin (00:11:26):
So I thought she was distancing herself a little bit,
Laura Belin (00:11:30):
but I thought both of the Republican leaders were not really acknowledging how much
Laura Belin (00:11:35):
all of this could be affecting the Iowa budget.
Laura Belin (00:11:38):
I mean, Amy Sinclair said, well, we're not going to be dealing with income tax this year.
Laura Belin (00:11:41):
We're mostly talking about property taxes.
Laura Belin (00:11:45):
And some of this isn't directly tied to the tariffs, but the massive change
Laura Belin (00:11:50):
cuts to federal funding i mean there are employees in state government whose
Laura Belin (00:11:54):
salaries are paid for with federal funds that may or may not be forthcoming and so
Laura Belin (00:11:59):
i felt that neither republican leader was really talking about how much they may
Laura Belin (00:12:04):
have to adjust the budget planning that was something the democratic leaders were
Laura Belin (00:12:07):
very much talking about the word realistic was used jennifer converse the house
Laura Belin (00:12:12):
minority leader said that several times we need to be realistic about what the
Laura Belin (00:12:16):
prospects are going to be for the coming year because i think
Laura Belin (00:12:19):
If this does send the economy into a recession, we saw it during the last great recession.
Laura Belin (00:12:24):
I mean, that certainly will affect state revenues.
Laura Belin (00:12:27):
And unlike during the COVID recession,
Laura Belin (00:12:30):
there's not going to be an enormous federal aid package coming our way,
Laura Belin (00:12:33):
quite the opposite.
Erin Murphy (00:12:35):
Yeah, no, that 100% agree with.
Erin Murphy (00:12:37):
And that was the clear message that they didn't seem to believe that there was any
Erin Murphy (00:12:43):
great adjustment they needed to make in their budget plans.
Erin Murphy (00:12:48):
We don't know what their budget plans are yet.
Erin Murphy (00:12:50):
We don't even have spending targets.
Erin Murphy (00:12:52):
yet which we usually do by this point um it sounded like um those will be coming
Erin Murphy (00:12:58):
soon now so it will be interesting to see um you know what kind of level they're at
Erin Murphy (00:13:03):
and are they comparable to the governor's proposal from their january are they how
Erin Murphy (00:13:07):
do they compare to
Erin Murphy (00:13:08):
Last year's.
Erin Murphy (00:13:09):
But yeah, it didn't sound like they felt they needed to pump the brakes at all.
Erin Murphy (00:13:14):
Now,
Erin Murphy (00:13:15):
coming into this year,
Erin Murphy (00:13:16):
you'll have a lot of people who would argue that they've already pumped the brakes
Erin Murphy (00:13:19):
too much in previous years.
Erin Murphy (00:13:21):
So not pumping the brakes anymore now wouldn't be any significant.
Erin Murphy (00:13:26):
change.
Erin Murphy (00:13:27):
But to that point,
Erin Murphy (00:13:29):
if their spending proposal is similar to past years,
Erin Murphy (00:13:34):
then they're following through on what they seem to indicate Thursday,
Erin Murphy (00:13:37):
which is they don't think there's a need to worry from the state financial perspective.
Dave Price (00:13:42):
I think I do remember Senator Sinclair talking about conservative budgeting or
Dave Price (00:13:48):
something like that as they look ahead to the year ahead.
Dave Price (00:13:52):
And I think they also both
Dave Price (00:13:54):
Well, I don't know that either one of them said the exact figure.
Dave Price (00:13:57):
You know,
Dave Price (00:13:57):
if there's $6 billion total in reserves or something like that,
Dave Price (00:14:00):
there is that ability to go grab something.
Dave Price (00:14:03):
And they don't seem inclined to spend that for anything else right now.
Dave Price (00:14:09):
And it doesn't appear that income taxes are even a thing that we can expect more
Dave Price (00:14:14):
action on that this session.
Dave Price (00:14:16):
So I'm wondering if they're just looking at the cushion for now and thinking,
Dave Price (00:14:19):
all right,
Dave Price (00:14:20):
we've got that if we need it.
Laura Belin (00:14:22):
I would guess so.
Laura Belin (00:14:23):
I mean,
Laura Belin (00:14:23):
but if it does turn out to be a recession,
Laura Belin (00:14:26):
I mean,
Laura Belin (00:14:26):
state revenues really tanked in 2008,
Laura Belin (00:14:29):
2009.
Laura Belin (00:14:30):
And Republicans still like to talk about Governor Chet Culver making that 10%
Laura Belin (00:14:35):
across the board budget cut,
Laura Belin (00:14:37):
which was...
Laura Belin (00:14:37):
You can say a lot of things about that being poor management,
Laura Belin (00:14:41):
but every state in the country was having a huge revenue drop.
Laura Belin (00:14:45):
I mean, the biggest drop since the Great Depression.
Laura Belin (00:14:48):
And so I'm not saying that that is what's going to happen.
Laura Belin (00:14:52):
But if the country goes into recession and we don't have a huge stimulus package
Laura Belin (00:14:56):
from the federal government,
Laura Belin (00:14:57):
which I think it's very clear would not be forthcoming,
Laura Belin (00:15:01):
then the state could be in a real pinch.
Laura Belin (00:15:03):
But you're right,
Laura Belin (00:15:04):
the taxpayer relief fund and the other surplus accounts,
Laura Belin (00:15:08):
that certainly does give them a cushion.
Dave Price (00:15:10):
Aaron, you talked about that we don't have budget targets yet.
Dave Price (00:15:13):
We are talking at the end of the first week of April.
Dave Price (00:15:17):
In theory,
Dave Price (00:15:18):
the session could be over in a couple of weeks,
Dave Price (00:15:19):
but I think we will all not bet the mortgage that that will happen as they have not
Dave Price (00:15:25):
even somehow inexplicably have not even agreed on public school funding yet,
Dave Price (00:15:30):
which should have been decided legally six weeks ago or whatever the heck the
Dave Price (00:15:35):
deadline would have been.
Dave Price (00:15:37):
But I feel like that helps us segue into something else Speaker Grassley talked
Dave Price (00:15:44):
about during his avail on Thursday,
Dave Price (00:15:46):
and that would seem to be the demise of that ag bill that dealt primarily with
Dave Price (00:15:53):
Bayer when you're talking about Roundup,
Dave Price (00:15:56):
glyphosate,
Dave Price (00:15:58):
The chemical in there that is so effective at killing weeds,
Dave Price (00:16:03):
but it's also been part of numerous lawsuits and billions of dollars worth of
Dave Price (00:16:09):
settlements that bear has had with people on this,
Dave Price (00:16:12):
so this would have.
Dave Price (00:16:14):
The Senate version would have given the company some extra protection potentially
Dave Price (00:16:19):
from lawsuits and similar to what happened in the past with them last year.
Dave Price (00:16:23):
But in both cases, House Republicans have decided not to move forward with this.
Dave Price (00:16:28):
And I'm curious,
Dave Price (00:16:29):
both of you,
Dave Price (00:16:30):
what your take on this and props to Speaker Grassley for being very open about
Dave Price (00:16:36):
talking about all of this,
Dave Price (00:16:38):
which is helpful to us as we try to figure out where things are going.
Erin Murphy (00:16:42):
Yeah, I'll just say real quick to get us started.
Erin Murphy (00:16:45):
I appreciate your pronunciation of glyphosate,
Erin Murphy (00:16:48):
Dave,
Erin Murphy (00:16:48):
because I think I could create a whole bingo card with the different ways that word
Erin Murphy (00:16:53):
has been pronounced between committee hearings and floor debate.
Erin Murphy (00:16:58):
Who knows where else I've been hearing it.
Dave Price (00:17:00):
Just say Roundup.
Dave Price (00:17:03):
It's like Kleenex.
Dave Price (00:17:04):
Most people kind of know what we're talking about here.
Erin Murphy (00:17:07):
um this isn't surprising is in that we're in the same place we were last year as
Erin Murphy (00:17:14):
well when the senate tried to to pass this well the senate did pass this bill in
Erin Murphy (00:17:18):
the house didn't take it up then either i guess maybe what makes it a little more
Erin Murphy (00:17:22):
surprising this year is there was such a concerted effort outside of the capital um
Erin Murphy (00:17:28):
we had advertise a big advertising campaign on this bill um you know when the
Erin Murphy (00:17:34):
narrative built that uh you know if a
Erin Murphy (00:17:37):
The farming is already difficult.
Erin Murphy (00:17:40):
If a tool like this goes away from farmers,
Erin Murphy (00:17:42):
it's going to make it even more and destroy farming in Iowa.
Erin Murphy (00:17:49):
That ultimately did not persuade
Erin Murphy (00:17:53):
enough house republicans yeah and to your point about speaker grassley talking
Erin Murphy (00:17:57):
about it he even referenced i didn't do that intentional just a couple seconds ago
Erin Murphy (00:18:02):
he even used the word narrative there's been this narrative built that i'm not sure
Erin Murphy (00:18:07):
that we agree with so um it's it was it's not surprising but it has been
Erin Murphy (00:18:12):
fascinating to see it unfold and and ultimately wind up in the in the same
Erin Murphy (00:18:17):
place that we did a year ago with,
Erin Murphy (00:18:18):
by the way,
Erin Murphy (00:18:19):
with even fewer votes of support in the Senate,
Erin Murphy (00:18:22):
it was closer in the Senate than the margin it passed by last year.
Laura Belin (00:18:28):
Yeah, it was a bit of a nail biter there with the Senate.
Laura Belin (00:18:30):
We don't see with 34 Republican senators,
Laura Belin (00:18:32):
we don't see very often a bill come up with even fewer than 30 votes.
Laura Belin (00:18:37):
And this one just barely got to the 26.
Erin Murphy (00:18:39):
It was 26.
Erin Murphy (00:18:40):
Yeah.
Laura Belin (00:18:40):
Yeah.
Laura Belin (00:18:41):
So I feel that in the House,
Laura Belin (00:18:43):
I wasn't that surprised because it didn't move forward in the House last year.
Laura Belin (00:18:47):
But of course, they had a majority last year of 64 to 36.
Laura Belin (00:18:49):
That is now that much bigger, 67 to 33.
Laura Belin (00:18:53):
And I think the perception was always that
Laura Belin (00:18:56):
Speaker Grassley was supportive of this bill.
Laura Belin (00:18:58):
It was the other members of his caucus who were not.
Laura Belin (00:19:01):
So I wondered in the back of my head, do those extra three votes pull them over the line?
Laura Belin (00:19:07):
But boy, there were some very outspoken Republicans.
Laura Belin (00:19:10):
I saw some references even well before the Senate passed the bill.
Laura Belin (00:19:14):
Republicans in the House putting in their newsletter that they were very against this bill.
Laura Belin (00:19:18):
So I think that the Republicans
Laura Belin (00:19:21):
Speaker Grassley called it a narrative,
Laura Belin (00:19:22):
whatever you want to call it,
Laura Belin (00:19:23):
in conservative circles,
Laura Belin (00:19:25):
this was extremely unpopular.
Laura Belin (00:19:27):
And there's, I think, a lot of overlap between
Laura Belin (00:19:31):
what I would call the anti-vax strain,
Laura Belin (00:19:35):
and then the anti-ag chemical,
Laura Belin (00:19:37):
we might call it the RFK junior people,
Laura Belin (00:19:40):
because some of the people who spoke at the subcommittee in the Senate against this
Laura Belin (00:19:44):
bill were those same people who are skeptical in general about other aspects of the establishment.
Laura Belin (00:19:51):
So I was not that surprised to see it go down,
Laura Belin (00:19:54):
but maybe a little surprised that Speaker Grassley was so open about it.
Dave Price (00:19:58):
And what about the I'm trying to figure out where this pipeline discussion is going
Dave Price (00:20:03):
to go this this legislative session right I mean this is a multi year discussion
Dave Price (00:20:10):
and you talk about an issue that splits Republicans,
Dave Price (00:20:14):
it is so challenging.
Dave Price (00:20:16):
to see what, if anything, they could all agree on.
Dave Price (00:20:22):
How do you not essentially kill the carbon sequestration pipeline,
Dave Price (00:20:27):
but still offer some additional protection for landowners?
Dave Price (00:20:33):
And is there such a threading of the needle that can do both those things?
Dave Price (00:20:39):
Are they too polar opposites that it just can't be done?
Laura Belin (00:20:45):
Well,
Laura Belin (00:20:46):
I saw Senator Mike Busselow's newsletter out today,
Laura Belin (00:20:50):
and this is his spin,
Laura Belin (00:20:51):
is that he's got the solution that's going to protect all landowners,
Laura Belin (00:20:55):
not just people opposing a specific project.
Laura Belin (00:20:58):
But ultimately,
Laura Belin (00:20:59):
his bill is not going to prevent the Summit Carbon Solution Pipeline from being built.
Laura Belin (00:21:03):
And that's the main thing that people want.
Laura Belin (00:21:06):
They want...
Laura Belin (00:21:07):
no eminent domain for this kind of project.
Laura Belin (00:21:09):
And his amendment is taking all of those provisions out of the bill.
Laura Belin (00:21:13):
So I'll be skeptical,
Laura Belin (00:21:15):
I guess,
Laura Belin (00:21:16):
to see who knows what the House Republicans are going to do,
Laura Belin (00:21:19):
because he is leaving in some reforms to the Iowa Utilities Commission and how they function.
Laura Belin (00:21:23):
But I don't get the sense that this amendment that he's proposed is going to be
Laura Belin (00:21:28):
satisfactory to the people who call themselves the Republican legislative
Laura Belin (00:21:32):
interveners for justice.
Erin Murphy (00:21:35):
Yeah, I agree.
Erin Murphy (00:21:36):
It'll be interesting to see what they ultimately decide,
Erin Murphy (00:21:39):
whether to just vote that on and say,
Erin Murphy (00:21:44):
we don't love it.
Erin Murphy (00:21:46):
There's probably some who would say House Republicans who have tried to pass these
Erin Murphy (00:21:50):
bills may even say we hate this bill,
Erin Murphy (00:21:52):
but it's more than what we have now.
Erin Murphy (00:21:54):
So I'll at least pass it for that reason, wishing that it did way more.
Erin Murphy (00:22:00):
Or is it so bad in their eye that they'll not even deem it worth approving and say,
Erin Murphy (00:22:06):
no,
Erin Murphy (00:22:07):
this is nothing like what we gave you.
Erin Murphy (00:22:09):
This does nothing to solve the problem as we see it.
Erin Murphy (00:22:12):
I'm speaking as a hypothetical House Republican here.
Erin Murphy (00:22:17):
I'm not even going to waste my time signing off on this and sending on to the governor.
Erin Murphy (00:22:22):
I don't know the answer to that.
Erin Murphy (00:22:23):
That will be curious.
Erin Murphy (00:22:25):
What I do know is that is the attitude among a bunch of those
Erin Murphy (00:22:31):
especially that group of House Republicans,
Erin Murphy (00:22:34):
Charlie Thompson,
Erin Murphy (00:22:35):
Steve Holt,
Erin Murphy (00:22:36):
a bunch of others who have been pushing for these bills,
Erin Murphy (00:22:39):
and then the landowner activists,
Erin Murphy (00:22:43):
they...
Erin Murphy (00:22:45):
see this as just spectacularly watered down and not at all effective in the way
Erin Murphy (00:22:52):
that the house bill was as as it left the house chamber so so it is going to be
Erin Murphy (00:22:57):
from a logistical procedural and political viewpoint going to be interesting to see
Erin Murphy (00:23:03):
what the future is for that bill
Laura Belin (00:23:05):
Just to explain to the listeners,
Laura Belin (00:23:07):
so some of the key provisions that the Senate Amendment is taking out,
Laura Belin (00:23:10):
and by the way,
Laura Belin (00:23:11):
we haven't necessarily seen the final version of the Senate Amendment.
Laura Belin (00:23:14):
Senator Disclose did not commit to that in the Commerce Committee, so we don't know.
Laura Belin (00:23:18):
But we know for sure that he took out all the language that said that a CO2
Laura Belin (00:23:23):
pipeline isn't eligible for eminent domain.
Laura Belin (00:23:28):
He took out a provision that says that if you're trying to get a permit for a CO2 pipeline,
Laura Belin (00:23:33):
you can only get it
Laura Belin (00:23:34):
once for 25 years and it can't be renewed.
Laura Belin (00:23:37):
He took out common carrier language,
Laura Belin (00:23:39):
which is a term of art that's complicated in this area of the law.
Laura Belin (00:23:43):
So it really doesn't...
Laura Belin (00:23:45):
The spin is that this protects all landowners because it makes it easier for them
Laura Belin (00:23:50):
to fight certain types of eminent domain and it makes it easier for Summit Carbon
Laura Belin (00:23:55):
to go outside the identified corridor to maybe sign voluntary easements with other landowners.
Laura Belin (00:24:00):
But that's not what these people want.
Laura Belin (00:24:01):
They want...
Laura Belin (00:24:03):
no eminent domain for this kind of project,
Laura Belin (00:24:05):
which they feel is only for the benefit of a private company and not something that
Laura Belin (00:24:10):
benefits all Iowans.
Laura Belin (00:24:11):
I mean,
Laura Belin (00:24:13):
you might argue,
Laura Belin (00:24:14):
not everyone would agree with an oil or gas pipeline or electric transmission lines,
Laura Belin (00:24:17):
but those are commodities that are well understood in the law to be things that are
Laura Belin (00:24:23):
in the public interest that members of the public use,
Laura Belin (00:24:25):
unlike this liquefied CO2.
Erin Murphy (00:24:28):
And real quick to that,
Erin Murphy (00:24:29):
you mentioned the expansion of the application of these proposals to all eminent
Erin Murphy (00:24:35):
domain projects,
Erin Murphy (00:24:36):
transmission lines,
Erin Murphy (00:24:38):
power generation lines,
Erin Murphy (00:24:39):
et cetera,
Erin Murphy (00:24:40):
et cetera.
Erin Murphy (00:24:40):
I talked to one prominent activist,
Erin Murphy (00:24:42):
Jeff Mazur is a name for folks who have been following this story closely.
Erin Murphy (00:24:45):
We'll know well with the Sierra Club.
Erin Murphy (00:24:48):
She called that a poison pill provision.
Erin Murphy (00:24:51):
And her argument was,
Laura Belin (00:24:54):
Now,
Erin Murphy (00:24:54):
all of a sudden,
Erin Murphy (00:24:55):
Mid-America and Alliant and Black Hills are interested in this bill and may be
Erin Murphy (00:24:59):
opposed to it.
Erin Murphy (00:25:00):
Whereas before, they had nothing to do with this bill.
Erin Murphy (00:25:04):
It was completely independent of them.
Erin Murphy (00:25:06):
And now you've gotten their attention and
Erin Murphy (00:25:09):
And maybe they don't like this one.
Erin Murphy (00:25:11):
And now you've got some giant energy companies lobbying potentially against that.
Erin Murphy (00:25:16):
Last I checked,
Erin Murphy (00:25:16):
they hadn't registered yet on the amended bill,
Erin Murphy (00:25:19):
but that was her hypothetical that you threatened bringing those groups in and
Erin Murphy (00:25:24):
bringing potentially their opposition,
Erin Murphy (00:25:26):
which could impact some legislators' viewpoints on the bill.
Dave Price (00:25:31):
And we should say we really have not heard much from the governor publicly about
Dave Price (00:25:35):
this issue for the most part.
Dave Price (00:25:39):
The prominent Republican donor is a supporter of Governor Reynolds.
Dave Price (00:25:43):
But either way, she hasn't really talked a lot publicly about what she even wants with us.
Erin Murphy (00:25:48):
Not just this year,
Erin Murphy (00:25:49):
Dave,
Erin Murphy (00:25:50):
but in the last four years of this being a very prominent topic at the Capitol.
Erin Murphy (00:25:55):
I will also note,
Erin Murphy (00:25:57):
Laura mentioned my other role as president of the Iowa Capitol Press Association.
Erin Murphy (00:26:02):
In this moment,
Erin Murphy (00:26:03):
I can't help but note that the governor doesn't talk to the press about a lot of
Erin Murphy (00:26:07):
stuff right now.
Erin Murphy (00:26:08):
She's a very sparse person.
Erin Murphy (00:26:12):
holder of public events and press conferences and interviews.
Erin Murphy (00:26:17):
And we'd like to see her out more often.
Erin Murphy (00:26:22):
But to that point, yeah, even when she has, she hasn't said much about the pipelines.
Dave Price (00:26:28):
This has been a change this year, I think.
Dave Price (00:26:31):
I am always reticent when I speak to groups or say anything publicly about
Dave Price (00:26:38):
you know,
Dave Price (00:26:39):
access and all kinds of stuff,
Dave Price (00:26:40):
because it sounds like we're whining about a bunch of stuff.
Dave Price (00:26:42):
But and I wish I had I wish I had a calendar behind me that I could kind of compare this.
Dave Price (00:26:48):
But I'm trying to think how many governors I've had for I think four since I've lived here.
Dave Price (00:26:54):
I don't know that I can ever remember a period where a governor
Dave Price (00:27:00):
had so infrequent public appearances or at least public appearances that were
Dave Price (00:27:07):
detailed on a public schedule or to do as we call them kind of the avails the
Dave Price (00:27:13):
gaggles the news conferences all of those things and i you know i don't honestly
Dave Price (00:27:18):
know if there's something that is keeping her
Dave Price (00:27:21):
you know otherwise occupied i don't really know the reason for it i just don't ever
Dave Price (00:27:25):
remember a stretch like this especially during a legislative session uh where i
Dave Price (00:27:30):
have seen a governor out of the public eye i know she's been to dc numerous times
Dave Price (00:27:37):
but the bill signing the other day with the hands free there was no no real access
Dave Price (00:27:42):
uh to talk to her about anything it's a it's a
Dave Price (00:27:46):
Just a different, kind of a different thing.
Erin Murphy (00:27:48):
Yeah,
Erin Murphy (00:27:49):
it's been,
Erin Murphy (00:27:49):
the one thing I'll say is it's been a kind of a gradual shift ever since COVID,
Erin Murphy (00:27:56):
essentially.
Dave Price (00:27:57):
Yeah, where she was always.
Erin Murphy (00:27:58):
Pandemic, she's relentlessly, yeah, yeah.
Erin Murphy (00:28:01):
And I don't know, I'm not gonna try and guess.
Erin Murphy (00:28:05):
All I know is that coming out of that,
Erin Murphy (00:28:08):
never since then,
Erin Murphy (00:28:09):
and it's been far less and only seems to be getting more
Erin Murphy (00:28:14):
more and more infrequent and I always say when I talk about this this isn't about
Erin Murphy (00:28:19):
me Aaron Murphy does not need another press conference to go to or another
Erin Murphy (00:28:23):
interview to prepare for the only reason I care about this because I care I think
Erin Murphy (00:28:28):
it's it's the way government should operate and that we're trying to cover this
Erin Murphy (00:28:32):
government on the behalf of Iowans and that's the only reason I even bring up this
Erin Murphy (00:28:36):
topic as I will occasionally do
Laura Belin (00:28:39):
I would be remiss not to mention that even before COVID,
Laura Belin (00:28:42):
I was physically prevented from entering Governor Reynolds' press conferences most
Laura Belin (00:28:47):
of the time by her then press secretary.
Laura Belin (00:28:49):
So I would say from my perspective, the access has never been great.
Laura Belin (00:28:52):
But I would agree that more broadly with the statehouse press corps,
Laura Belin (00:28:58):
there's less frequent access.
Laura Belin (00:29:00):
But getting back to this pipeline issue,
Laura Belin (00:29:02):
I've always felt for the last several years that the reason the Iowa Senate shut
Laura Belin (00:29:07):
down all discussion of eminent domain is that the governor doesn't want to sign one
Laura Belin (00:29:11):
of these bills and she also doesn't want to veto one of these bills because this
Laura Belin (00:29:14):
pipeline is extremely unpopular in the Republican Party,
Laura Belin (00:29:19):
particularly the conservative wing of the Republican Party.
Laura Belin (00:29:22):
in Northwest Iowa,
Laura Belin (00:29:23):
where many counties are crossed by the summit carbon pipeline route,
Laura Belin (00:29:27):
and a lot of people are upset about it.
Laura Belin (00:29:29):
So I think the best scenario for her is that if there's stalemate and the
Laura Belin (00:29:33):
legislature doesn't send anything to her desk.
Laura Belin (00:29:36):
And I think that Mike Busolo,
Laura Belin (00:29:38):
who is the new chair of the Commerce Committee,
Laura Belin (00:29:40):
he was not the chair prior to this year,
Laura Belin (00:29:42):
I think that for him,
Laura Belin (00:29:43):
he just wants to be seen as actually doing something on the issue and not
Laura Belin (00:29:47):
completely shutting down every discussion.
Laura Belin (00:29:49):
But I'm not sure that he necessarily really wants.
Laura Belin (00:29:53):
Clearly, he doesn't want a solution that results in the summit carbon pipeline not being built.
Dave Price (00:29:59):
All right, we're coming up to the end of it.
Dave Price (00:30:01):
We always,
Dave Price (00:30:03):
Aaron,
Dave Price (00:30:03):
at the end of our Gab Fest,
Dave Price (00:30:05):
we like to tell folks what we're working on,
Dave Price (00:30:10):
a little plug,
Dave Price (00:30:12):
some self-promotion,
Dave Price (00:30:13):
if you will.
Dave Price (00:30:14):
So self-promote, would you?
Erin Murphy (00:30:17):
Well,
Erin Murphy (00:30:17):
I mean,
Erin Murphy (00:30:18):
to the point of our discussion here today,
Erin Murphy (00:30:21):
I'm knee deep and my colleague Tom Barton is just on the other side of the wall
Erin Murphy (00:30:25):
here doing similar work on coming out of this second funnel deadline of the
Erin Murphy (00:30:31):
legislative session.
Erin Murphy (00:30:33):
Not only what happened this week and then to the points leading up to, but now what
Erin Murphy (00:30:39):
does the shift,
Erin Murphy (00:30:40):
what does the focus shift to moving forward for the last few weeks of the session?
Erin Murphy (00:30:45):
Tom's got a story.
Erin Murphy (00:30:47):
I've got the old,
Erin Murphy (00:30:49):
if you're a true nerd of this stuff,
Erin Murphy (00:30:54):
I will have a literal list of all the bills we have covered this session and
Erin Murphy (00:30:58):
whether they did or did not survive this funnel,
Erin Murphy (00:31:01):
which is,
Erin Murphy (00:31:03):
we were talking about this a little bit just before hitting the record button.
Erin Murphy (00:31:06):
It's also kind of
Erin Murphy (00:31:07):
feels to a certain degree a silly exercise because it's always comes with the
Erin Murphy (00:31:11):
caveat that no bill is truly dead because there's always tricks and yeah a
Erin Murphy (00:31:17):
mechanism to bring it back if they want but as we sit here right now um so anyways
Erin Murphy (00:31:22):
all the possible legislative funnel coverage you could possibly want will be at the
Erin Murphy (00:31:27):
gazette.com or in your gazette print editions over the weekend
Dave Price (00:31:31):
I mean, let's be honest, that is true public service.
Dave Price (00:31:36):
Complete selfless public service.
Erin Murphy (00:31:40):
I sure hope so, because, man, it's a lot of work.
Dave Price (00:31:42):
Good thing your daughter's away at college and your wife can keep herself busy.
Dave Price (00:31:47):
She just locks you in the back room and lets you do this craziness.
Erin Murphy (00:31:52):
Yeah, we were just talking about the chemtrails here in the newsroom.
Laura Belin (00:31:57):
I kind of wanted to see that one debated on the House floor.
Laura Belin (00:32:00):
So I'll be working.
Laura Belin (00:32:01):
Spencer Dirks and I will be talking about a lot of funnel news,
Laura Belin (00:32:04):
what got through,
Laura Belin (00:32:05):
what didn't get through on Monday night's KHI Capital Week.
Laura Belin (00:32:09):
I'm working on something.
Laura Belin (00:32:10):
I think what I'm going to be posting on my Substack newsletter this weekend is
Laura Belin (00:32:14):
about the pesticide bill.
Laura Belin (00:32:15):
And not just that it's dead,
Laura Belin (00:32:17):
but that Mike Busolo,
Laura Belin (00:32:19):
the same senator who's in the middle of all this eminent domain negotiations,
Laura Belin (00:32:23):
floor managed that bill.
Laura Belin (00:32:25):
And I find it very interesting that he chose to floor manage such an incredibly
Laura Belin (00:32:29):
unpopular proposal.
Laura Belin (00:32:30):
So I'm going to be talking about some pesticide immunity bill angles.
Dave Price (00:32:37):
The main part of a column that I will post this weekend is essentially seeing the
Dave Price (00:32:44):
good and the bad.
Dave Price (00:32:46):
It has nothing to do with politics.
Dave Price (00:32:48):
That will be the top part of it.
Dave Price (00:32:50):
There will be some politics later on in there, but...
Dave Price (00:32:53):
It's healthy for me to turn my head away from politics from time to time.
Dave Price (00:32:58):
And as we look at the other thing going on in the world.
Dave Price (00:33:00):
Hey, Aaron, thanks for jumping in on this.
Dave Price (00:33:03):
You bet.
Dave Price (00:33:03):
It was great.
Dave Price (00:33:04):
Appreciate you having me.
Dave Price (00:33:05):
And you as well, Laura, of course.
Laura Belin (00:33:07):
Of course.
Dave Price (00:33:08):
Thanks to all of you for joining the Iowa Down Ballot podcast,
Dave Price (00:33:12):
a production from the Iowa Writers Collaborative.
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