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[Note: This material is copyright by the Muscatine Journal, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Muscatine Journal.]

Candidates competing for seats in Iowa House districts 80 (Democrat incumbent Nathan Reichert and Republican challenger Greg Orr), 79 (Republican incumbent Jeff Kaufmann and Democrat challenger Clara Oleson) and 87 (Republican incumbent Tom Sands) participated in the forum, co-sponsored by the Muscatine Journal and KWPC radio.  Sands’ opponent, Democrat Andrew Hoth, was unable to attend, citing family commitments.

Candidates were given 60 seconds each to respond to questions on such hot-button issues as illegal immigration, health care, whether to raise the minimum wage and alternative fuels, as well as list their own involvement in legislative committees and subcommittees. More than 40 people turned out and the forum also was televised  live on MPW Cable channel 2 and aired on KWPC.

 Elections will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7. The last day to register to vote in this election is Oct. 28.

Immigration

Reichert, Orr and Kaufmann all said they supported enforcing state regulations on hiring illegal immigrants and supported crack-downs on the businesses hiring illegal immigrants to make coming to America illegally less attractive.

Oleson, while agreeing that the current laws should be enforced and corporations held accountable, asked people to remember that immigration issues dealt with “human beings who are our neighbors.”

Sands, however, cautioned that the issue wasn’t as simple as just cracking down on corporations, and said federal officials must be pressed to work on the issue through relations with Mexico.

Insurance

Another question focused on allowing small businesses to create insurance pools to lower health-care costs. Reichert noted that a bill to allow such pools was one of his first priorities when elected as a legislator two years ago, but said that a bipartisan effort to pass legislation was “high-jacked” at the last minute.

Both Oleson and Orr also support such legislation, with Orr saying that insurance costs have become “prohibitive” for small businesses.

 Both Sands and Kaufmann took issue with Reichert’s referral to the bill as being high-jacked. Sands said he was confident the issue would come up again and earn support, while Kaufmann said the bill was hurt by insurance companies who opposed it and convinced both Democrat and Republican legislators to abandon the bill. Both men said they would support future legislation to create a pool.

Growth for schools

One dividing question was how much allowable growth should be approved for school districts. Allowable growth is the amount of dollars available per student in the year’s fiscal budget. In the previous legislative session, representatives passed a 4 percent amount, as opposed to the 6 percent amount supported by the Iowa State Education Association.

Orr said he was not well-versed in the issue, but that he supported examining state allocations to find more money for schools. Reichert said he had supported 6 percent growth, and would support that amount in the future, which could be taken from a projected surplus in state revenues.

Sands felt that such a promise would be “disingenuous,”  saying that built-in spending was greater than state revenues, and that there was no sure way to tell where the money would come from to fulfill such a promise.

Kaufmann said state funds would be better spent on teacher compensation programs and a school infrastructure local option tax (SILO) would give schools greater resources.

Oleson supported a 6-percent increase and believed it could be funded by reforms in the use of tax increment financing and the school foundation formula,  which mixes property taxes and state aid.

Economy

Economic questions were a key part of the forum, especially how the candidates would encourage alternative fuel developments.

Reichert said he’d worked for alternative fuels in his first term, citing renewable fuels applications of the Iowa Values Fund. He said the state must help install infrastructure for E85 fuel — a blend that’s 85 percent ethanol.

Sands also noted that the Legislature had passed renewable fuels legislation this past session, and that the state should look at funds to provide incentives to spread alternative fuel use. He cautioned that both infrastructure and E85 compatible vehicles must be produced in equal measure to be effective.

 Kaufmann also noted legislative work to encourage renewable fuel use, and supported expanding E85 infrastructure, but said state leaders should not limit their sight to ethanol and biodiesel, and to include biomass fuels.

Oleson favored creating statutes to prevent ethanol production facilities from being consolidated by out-of-state corporations, noting that only four of the state’s 24 ethanol plants are still Iowa-owned.

Orr deviated the most, however, saying that E85 is too “inefficient” to be a viable fuel alternative and that the technology was not yet advanced enough, or cost-effective enough, to make supporting infrastructure expansion worthwhile yet. “It’s not a magic bullet,” Orr said.

Property tax

On property tax reform, Sands said the current system was antiquated and deserved review. Kaufmann also felt there could be changes, but said that such taxes were tied to education funding, and that the state general fund could be used to help education and allow for property tax reform.

Oleson favored “data collection” — similar to the redistricting process — to find ways to reduce property tax.

Orr also favored reduction or reform of property taxes, and said other tax systems could be examined to “make up the difference” for the funds that could be lost.

Reichert said that if state and federal officials were properly funding programs, it would take the burden off of local agencies and allow for property tax reduction.

Gambling

One source of state revenues that has been consistently controversial is gambling, and all present agreed that gaming should be limited in one way or another.

Orr called gambling in Iowa “out of control,” and said that the state has become “addicted” to the funds. He said he would push to keep Iowa from becoming another Las Vegas. Reichert also opposed gaming expansion, recalling Muscatine’s previous experiences with riverboat gambling that “took our money and left.” He called action this spring to remove TouchPlay machines — a lottery device that resembled slot machines — the proper action.

Oleson agreed that TouchPlay removal was the right action. Sands believed the state’s racing and gaming commissioners should be reigned in from further gaming expansions. Kaufmann also said some control must be put on the state’s gaming authorities, and that the state’s lottery commission should be stripped of its special status and possibly put in the state’s gaming commission so that more controls could be placed on it.

Eminent domain

Another controversial issue discussed was the use of eminent domain by public bodies to seize private property. The Legislature this spring passed and then voted to override Gov. Tom Vilsack’s veto of legislation that  further restricted the use of eminent domain.

Reichert said eminent domain use should be severely limited and used only for broad public good like establishing roads, bridges or schools, and never for a private business.

Sands agreed that eminent domain should be limited, and supported further legislative measures to ensure it was used in very specific circumstances, and rarely.

Kaufmann said legislators should support not just limiting eminent domain but guard against the threat of forced annexation, which has often allowed cities to “bully their   way into getting property” from  residents who couldn’t afford the legal costs to fight it.

Two candidates cited personal examples, with Oleson noting years she spent fighting the seizure of property in Coralville to build an indoor rain forest educational and recreational project  — a project that has since moved from Coralville to Pella. Greg Orr referenced concerns that his home outside of Muscatine’s city limits could be forceably annexed into the city, increasing his taxes.

Minimum wage

The candidates were perhaps divided the most on the minimum wage issue. Both Reichert and Oleson supported an immediate increase in the minimum wage, with Oleson calling it a “moral issue” of exploiting workers.

Kaufmann was open to the raise, but, he said, only if tied to health-care reform to ease the burden on small businesses.

Both Sands and Orr outright opposed a raise. Sands said the majority of minimum-wage earners were in households with median income of more than $40,000, and that at least half were teenagers living with parents. He argued money would be better spent on educational programs to give worker skills for higher-paying jobs.

Orr opposed the increase, saying that workers could pull themselves out of low-paying jobs through hard work and education, as he had done himself,   but that he would not “hand it to them.”

Heated discussions

While the forum was mostly a civil presentation, there were a few heated moments. Oleson argued that Kaufmann’s Web site did not provide a clear voting record — promising she would provide one if elected. Kaufmann responded that Oleson’s statement was untrue and that his Web site did provide such a record.

And response to a question about whether the public had lost faith in politicians and what could be done about it sparked strong reaction from the audience.

Discussing negative campaign ads, Orr held up a campaign mailing that he said lied about his actions as Muscatine County Sheriff, and chastised Reichert for allowing such a mailing to be sent out.

“This is a bunch of crap,” Orr said, to audience applause.

“Interesting piece,” Reichert countered, then held his forefinger and thumb a few inches apart. “You should put it against the stack I have about yay high.”

The audience also applauded Reichert’s comment.

After the debate, Muscatine resident Sue Dravis, 40, said she  was pleased with the responses.

“It was good,” said Dravis, a member of the League of Women Voters. “We got clear answers.”

Muscatine resident Kenneth Irwin, 68, a Republican, was also satisfied with the responses, although he believed the audience response to some heated moments was inappropriate.

“I don’t think we should be booing and hissing,” he said. “That’s not what we’re here for.”